小卒

• 拼音: xiǎo zú
• 汉字拆解: 小 = small/minor; 卒 = 衣 + 十 (clothing with a cross mark — originally a branded soldier)

含义

Foot soldier; pawn; minor figure. A person of low rank or little importance, often used figuratively for someone who is merely a tool of more powerful forces.

Originally referred to an ordinary infantryman (卒). By extension, 小卒 denotes anyone at the bottom of a hierarchy — an insignificant functionary, a minor player in a scheme, or a pawn in a political game. The chess metaphor is strong: in Chinese chess (象棋), 卒 is the weakest piece.

例句

1. 在这场权力博弈中，他不过是一枚任人摆布的小卒，对幕后的真实意图一无所知。
2. 尽管起初只是一名普通小卒，他凭借出色的才干和坚韧的意志，最终跻身高层。
3. 历史上许多改变战局的关键时刻，往往是由名不见经传的小卒率先发起行动的。

用法指南

语境: politics, military, strategy, chess, literature

语气: neutral

正确说法

• 调查人员发现，那些直接参与欺诈行为的员工不过是小卒，真正的主谋隐藏在公司架构的最高层。(Investigators found that the employees directly involved in the fraud were merely pawns — the true masterminds were concealed at the highest levels of the corporate structure.)
• 在这部历史小说中，作者特意选取了一名无名小卒的视角，以此折射出整个王朝更迭的宏大叙事。(In this historical novel, the author deliberately adopts the perspective of an obscure foot soldier to reflect the grand narrative of an entire dynastic transition.)

错误说法

• 他是个小卒子 — 小卒 already conveys 'minor figure'; adding 子 is redundant and sounds colloquially awkward in formal writing

起源与历史

小 (small/minor) + 卒 (soldier/to finish) — a minor soldier; the weakest piece in Chinese chess

文化背景

时代: Classical

世代: All ages

社会背景: Universal