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一分為二

简一分为二 · 繁一分為二

Mandarin · pinyin yī fēn wéi èr

one divides into two
to be two-sided
there are two sides to everything
to see both sb's good points and shortcomings (idiom)

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Characters in this entry

一: yī · one; a, an; alone
分: fēn · divide; small unit of time etc.
為: Look up this written character
二: èr · two; twice
为: wèi · do, handle, govern, act; be

Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

1–1–2–4 · yi1 fen1 wei2 er4

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Read this spelling in Classical texts

Follow a written form into the eight pinned witnesses: Analects, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi, Sunzi and the Mao Shijing. A match is a place to investigate; it does not prove that a modern dictionary sense fits the passage.

一分為二 · find source passages ↗ · 一分为二 · find source passages ↗

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Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

phrase

(idiomatic) to divide into two; to bisect

Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history

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