千军万马
qiān jūn wàn mǎ · HSK 7
magnificent army with thousands of men and horses
🐎 千 thousand + 军 army + 万 ten-thousand + 马 horses = a vast military force
Built from four characters: 千 (thousand) and 军 (army) pair with 万 (ten-thousand) and 马 (horse). The numbers are hyperbole for sheer scale, so the idiom names any overwhelming show of manpower or force.
千 — person 人 with horizontal stroke
Originally derived from the character 人 (person) with an added horizontal stroke, used as a numerical marker meaning 'thousand.' Some scholars link the stroke to a tally mark indicating a large count. Over time it became the standard numeral for 1000.
万 — top 一 + 𠃌 (hook) over 丿
Originally a pictograph of a scorpion, used in oracle bone script. It was borrowed phonetically to mean 'ten thousand' and the original scorpion sense was lost. The traditional form 萬 shows the scorpion more clearly; 万 is a simplified variant long used as a common shorthand.
马 — pictograph of a horse (simplified from 馬)
马 is a pictograph that originally depicted a horse in profile, with mane, legs, and tail clearly visible in the oracle bone and bronze script forms. The traditional form 馬 still preserves four dots representing the legs. The modern simplified form 马 streamlines these strokes but retains the same meaning: horse.