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不相上下

Mandarin · pinyin bù xiāng shàng xià

equally matched
about the same

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Characters in this entry

不: bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
相: xiāng · mutual, reciprocal, each other
上: shàng · top; superior, highest; go up, send up
下: xià · under, underneath, below; down; inferior; bring down

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

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Mandarin tones

4–1–4–4 · bu4 xiang1 shang4 xia4

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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.

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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 rival one another; to be on a par; to be equally matched; to be about the same

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

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