兵来将挡，水来土掩 in English bing1 lai2 jiang4 dang3 , shui3 lai2 tu3 yan3 Meaning

Meanings

  • counter soldiers with arms, water with an earth weir (idiomatic expression); different situations call for different action
  • to adopt measures appropriate to the actual situation

Simplified Characters

兵 来 将 挡 ， 水 来 土 掩

Traditional Characters

兵 來 將 擋 ， 水 來 土 掩

Pinyin

bing1 lai2 jiang4 dang3 , shui3 lai2 tu3 yan3

Literal

Literal explanation, with pronunciation and meaning of each character.

兵bing1soldiers 来lai2to come 将jiang1will 挡dang3to resist ， 水shui3surname Shui 来lai2to come 土tu3Tu (ethnic group) 掩yan3to cover up