DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

化整為零

简化整为零 · 繁化整為零

Mandarin · pinyin huà zhěng wéi líng

to break up the whole into pieces (idiom); dealing with things one by one
divide and conquer

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Characters in this entry

化: huà · change, convert, reform; -ize
整: zhěng · orderly, neat, tidy; whole
為: Look up this written character
零: líng · zero; fragment, fraction
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

4–3–2–2 · hua4 zheng3 wei2 ling2

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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.

化整為零 · find source passages ↗ · 化整为零 · 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.

verb

to break up the whole into parts

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

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