傷敵一千，自損八百
Chinese
| injure; injury; wound | enemy; match | one; single; a one; single; a; (before verbs) as soon as, once; (before a noun) entire (family, etc.) |
thousand | from; self; oneself from; self; oneself; since |
to damage; injure; to lose to damage; injure; to lose; to harm |
eight | hundred | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| trad. (傷敵一千，自損八百) | 傷 | 敵 | 一 | 千 | ， | 自 | 損 | 八 | 百 | |
| simp. (伤敌一千，自损八百) | 伤 | 敌 | 一 | 千 | ， | 自 | 损 | 八 | 百 | |
| alternative forms | 傷敵一千自損八百／伤敌一千自损八百 | |||||||||
| Literally: “To injure one thousand enemy soldiers while one loses eight hundred soldiers”. | ||||||||||
Etymology
See 殺敵一千，自損八百.
Pronunciation
- Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)+
- Hanyu Pinyin: shāng dí yīqiān, zì sǔn bābǎi [Phonetic: shāng dí yìqiān, zì sǔn bābǎi]
- Zhuyin: ㄕㄤ ㄉㄧˊ ㄧ ㄑㄧㄢ , ㄗˋ ㄙㄨㄣˇ ㄅㄚ ㄅㄞˇ
- Tongyong Pinyin: shang dí yician, zìh sǔn babǎi
- Wade–Giles: shang1 ti2 i1-chʻien1, tzŭ4 sun3 pa1-pai3
- Yale: shāng dí yī-chyān-, dz̀ swǔn bā-bǎi
- Gwoyeu Romatzyh: shang dyi ichian, tzyh soen babae
- Palladius: шан ди ицянь, цзы сунь бабай (šan di icjanʹ, czy sunʹ babaj)
- Sinological IPA (key): /ʂɑŋ⁵⁵ ti³⁵ i⁵⁵⁻⁵¹ t͡ɕʰi̯ɛn⁵⁵ t͡sz̩⁵¹ su̯ən²¹⁴⁻²¹ pä⁵⁵ paɪ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
- (Standard Chinese)+
- Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)+
- Jyutping: soeng1 dik6 jat1 cin1, zi6 syun2 baat3 baak3
- Yale: sēung dihk yāt chīn, jih syún baat baak
- Cantonese Pinyin: soeng1 dik9 jat7 tsin1, dzi6 syn2 baat8 baak8
- Guangdong Romanization: sêng1 dig6 yed1 qin1, ji6 xun2 bad3 bag3
- Sinological IPA (key): /sœːŋ⁵⁵ tɪk̚² jɐt̚⁵ t͡sʰiːn⁵⁵ t͡siː²² syːn³⁵ paːt̚³ paːk̚³/
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)+
Idiom
傷敵一千，自損八百
- to inflict damage on the enemy while one's own side suffers a smaller but comparable level of damage; cut off one's nose to spite one's face