cǎo草grassmù木woodjiē皆allbīng兵soldiers
To see enemies everywhere; extreme paranoia.
Literal meaning
grass (草) — wood (木) — all (皆) — soldiers (兵)
Origin
This idiom originates from the Jin Shu (Book of Jin), describing a situation where the defeated Jin army was so fearful that they mistook grass and trees for enemy soldiers.
Examples
zì自cóng从shàng上cì次shī失bài败hòu后，tā他xiàn现zài在cǎo草mù木jiē皆bīng兵，fēi非cháng常jǐn紧zhāng张。
Ever since his last failure, he's been seeing enemies everywhere and is very nervous.
zài在nà那zhǒng种qíng情kuàng况xià下，tā他men们yǐ已jīng经dào到le了cǎo草mù木jiē皆bīng兵de的dì地bù步。
In that situation, they had reached the point of seeing enemies everywhere.
Usage & nuances
Describes a state of extreme fear and suspicion.
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