中國成語故事中英對照 紙上談兵

In the Warring States Period, the State of Zhao had a famous general called Zhao She, whose son, Zhao Kuo, was very fond of reading books on military science and discussing strategy. He could recite military texts by heart, and when discussing warfare he spoke so clearly and logically that it seemed that even his father was not his match. When the State of Qin attacked the State of Zhao, the ruler of Zhao ordered Zhao Kuo to lead 400,000 men to resist(抵抗) the attack. But since Zhao Kuo had no practical experience of battle, he was defeated and lost his life.

趙括從小學習兵法，自以為天下沒有人能夠與其匹敵。他的父親趙奢曾經評論說：“打仗是非常危險的事情，而趙括把它說得太容易了，假使將來趙國不任命他為將軍，那也就算了，如果一定要拜他為將軍，導致趙軍大敗的人必定是趙括無疑。”后來趙括果然代替廉頗做了大將軍，長平一戰(zhàn)被秦將白起打敗，四十萬趙軍全部被消滅，趙括自己也戰(zhàn)死了。

Later people used this idiom to describe those who are good only at theorizing, and lack practical experience.

在紙面上談論打仗。比喻空談理論，不能解決實際問題。也比喻空談不能成為現實。