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不打不成相識

简不打不成相识 · 繁不打不成相識

Mandarin · pinyin bù dǎ bù chéng xiāng shí

don't fight, won't make friends (idiom); an exchange of blows may lead to friendship

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Characters in this entry

不: bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
打: dǎ · strike, hit, beat; fight; attack
成: chéng · completed, finished, fixed
相: xiāng · mutual, reciprocal, each other
識: Look up this written character
识: shí · shì · recognize, understand, know

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

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Mandarin tones

4–3–4–2–1–2 · bu4 da3 bu4 cheng2 xiang1 shi2

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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.

不打不成相識 · find source passages ↗ · 不打不成相识 · 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.

proverb

Friends are often made after a fight; from an exchange of blows friendship grows; no acquaintance is made without a fight; no discord, no concord; out of blows friendship grows.

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

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