noun
soldier; rank-and-file soldier
Refers to an individual soldier, especially an ordinary or lower-ranking soldier. It is common in military, historical, and written contexts; 兵士 is often clearer in everyday modern wording.
若い兵が門の前に立っていた。
A young soldier was standing in front of the gate.
彼は将校ではなく、一人の兵として戦った。
He fought not as an officer, but as a single rank-and-file soldier.
noun
Collective use for soldiers as a force or army. Often appears with numbers or verbs such as 率いる, 集める, or 進める.
王は一万の兵を率いて北へ進んだ。
The king led ten thousand troops north.
城の周りに敵の兵が集まった。
Enemy troops gathered around the castle.
noun
warfare; military strategy
Literary or classical use referring to war, warfare, or the art of war rather than to soldiers themselves. In modern Japanese it is mostly seen in set phrases, classical quotations, or compounds related to military strategy.
「兵は詭道なり」の兵は、兵士ではなく戦争や用兵を指す。
In the phrase 兵は詭道なり, 兵 refers to warfare or military operations, not to soldiers.
A clearer modern word for an individual soldier; 兵 is shorter and often more written, historical, or collective.
Refers to an organized military or army as an institution, while 兵 can mean troops or soldiers themselves.
Specifically means military strategy or the art of war; it corresponds to the strategic sense of 兵 in a fixed compound.
Sino-Japanese reading へい of the kanji 兵, conventionally associated with soldiers, troops, arms, and military affairs. No more specific historical derivation is asserted here.