招兵买马

Traditional form:

招兵買馬

Pinyin (reading):

zhāobīngmǎimǎ

Definitions:

• lit. to recruit soldiers and buy horses (idiom)
• fig. to raise an army; to recruit new staff

Characters:

• 招 - to summon; to recruit; to levy
• 兵 - soldier; troops, an army; warlike
• 买 - to buy, to purchase; to bribe, to persuade
• 马 - horse; surname

Traditional characters:

• 招 - to summon; to recruit; to levy
• 兵 - soldier; troops, an army; warlike
• 買 - to buy, to purchase; to bribe, to persuade
• 馬 - horse; surname