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勝者王侯敗者寇

简胜者王侯败者寇 · 繁勝者王侯敗者寇

Mandarin · pinyin shèng zhě wáng hóu bài zhě kòu

the winners become princes and marquises; the losers are vilified as bandits (idiom)
history is written by the victors

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Characters in this entry

勝: shèng · victory; excel, be better than
者: zhě · that which; he who; those who
王: wáng · king, ruler; royal; surname
侯: hóu · marquis, lord; target in archery
敗: Look up this written character
寇: kòu · bandits, thieves; enemy; invade
胜: shèng · victory; excel, be better than
败: bài · be defeated, decline, fail

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

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Mandarin tones

4–3–2–2–4–3–4 · sheng4 zhe3 wang2 hou2 bai4 zhe3 kou4

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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.

勝者王侯敗者寇 · find source passages ↗ · 胜者王侯败者寇 · 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

synonym of 成者為王，敗者為寇 /成者为王，败者为寇 (chéng zhě wéi wáng, bài zhě wéi kòu, “Legitimacy belongs to the victor; might makes right; Used to mean a person is judged solely on whether they succeeded or failed”)

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

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