安营扎寨

安營紮寨

ānyíngzhāzhài

idiom #39,536

Meanings

1 to pitch camp and set up stockades
2 to set up camp
3 to establish a base (literal or figurative)

Characters

to set up; establish

to pitch; plant

stockade; fortified camp

Examples

部队在山脚下安营扎寨。

Bùduì zài shān jiǎo xià ān yíng zhā zhài.

The troops set up camp at the foot of the mountain.

工程队在工地附近安营扎寨。

Gōngchéngduì zài gōngdì fùjìn ān yíng zhā zhài.

The construction team set up base near the work site.

他们决定在这座城市安营扎寨，长期发展。

Tāmen juédìng zài zhè zuò chéngshì ān yíng zhā zhài, chángqī fāzhǎn.

They decided to settle in this city and build up over the long term.

Tips

history

From the Yuan play 《两军师隔江斗智》: Zhou Yu is reported as having '安营扎寨' at Chaisang Ford, a deliberate military move. The idiom cemented as stock language for Romance-of-the-Three-Kingdoms-style war narratives.

usage

Originally strictly military. Modern extension covers any deliberate setting-up of a long-term base — companies entering a market, migrants settling in a new city, researchers starting fieldwork.

Stroke Order

安 ān

营 yíng

扎 zhā

寨 zhài