Chinese idiom · 成语
舌战群儒
Meaning
Tongue battles many scholars; to outdebate a group.
Character by character
Origin and story
historical fictionChapter 43 of Romance of the Three Kingdoms presents Zhuge Liang arriving in Sun Quan's territory to seek cooperation against Cao Cao. Before meeting the ruler, he faces learned officials who challenge his reputation and Liu Bei's recent defeats. Zhang Zhao questions his comparison of himself with famous statesmen; Zhuge Liang answers that temporary setbacks do not settle the worth of a larger strategy. Further opponents receive similarly pointed replies. The chapter heading calls this a battle of tongues against the scholars. It is a celebrated scene from historical fiction, not a transcript of a documented debate, and the phrase now praises someone who argues effectively against several opponents.
Sources and further reading
In everyday life
在预算讨论会上，她舌战群儒，终于说服大家保留图书馆的经费。
At the budget meeting, she took on all the opposing arguments and finally persuaded everyone to keep the library's funding.
A vivid, often admiring description of debating several opponents.