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”.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): shāng dí yīqiān, zì sǔn bābǎi

  (Zhuyin): ㄕㄤ ㄉㄧˊ ㄧ ㄑㄧㄢ , ㄗˋ ㄙㄨㄣˇ ㄅㄚ ㄅㄞˇ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): soeng¹ dik⁶ jat¹ cin¹, zi⁶ syun² baat³ baak³

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• 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⁾/
• 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/

Idiom

傷敵一千，自損八百

1. to inflict damage on the enemy while one's own side suffers a smaller but comparable level of damage

Synonyms

• 殺敵一千，自損八百／杀敌一千，自损八百 (shādí yīqiān, zì sǔn bābǎi)
• 慘勝／惨胜 (cǎnshèng)
• 損人不利己／损人不利己 (sǔnrén bù lìjǐ)
• 兩敗俱傷／两败俱伤 (liǎngbàijùshāng)