Chinese idiom · 成语
草木皆兵
Meaning
To mistake harmless things for threats; to be extremely fearful and suspicious.
Character by character
Origin and story
Historical accountJin Shu (晉書), volume 114, relates how Fu Jian and Fu Rong climbed a city wall to inspect the opposing Jin army. Its formations were orderly and its soldiers impressive. Looking north toward Mount Bagong, Fu Jian thought the vegetation there resembled human figures. He turned to Fu Rong, treating what he saw as evidence of a formidable enemy, and showed fear.
The episode belongs to the campaign associated with the Fei River battle, but it is not simply a defeated general imagining attackers after flight. The idiom captures fear making harmless surroundings look threatening. It describes apprehension and suspicion, not a clinical diagnosis.
Sources and further reading
In everyday life
收到一次诈骗短信后，他看见陌生号码就紧张，简直草木皆兵。
After one scam text, every unfamiliar number made him nervous, as though danger were everywhere.
Suggests fear is turning ordinary signals into imagined threats.