扎硬寨

紮硬寨

zhāyìngzhài

phrase

Meanings

1 to pitch a strong stockade
2 to dig in and fortify a solid camp (a slow, methodical military approach)

Characters

tie; pitch (camp)

stockade; fortified camp

Examples

曾国藩主张扎硬寨、打呆仗。

Zēng Guófān zhǔzhāng zhā yìngzhài, dǎ dāi zhàng.

Zeng Guofan advocated pitching strong camps and fighting dogged battles.

他做生意也讲究扎硬寨，从不冒险。

Tā zuò shēngyì yě jiǎngjiu zhā yìngzhài, cóng bù màoxiǎn.

He also runs his business by the 'pitch a strong camp' principle and never takes risks.

Tips

history

From 曾国藩's (1811-1872) doctrine 扎硬寨，打呆仗 ('pitch strong camps, fight dogged battles'): the 湘军 would halt before sundown and dig trenches, walls and moats around every camp before resting. The slow, attritional style eventually wore down the Taiping rebels and is still cited as a metaphor for patient, disciplined strategy.

Stroke Order

扎 zhā

硬 yìng

寨 zhài