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成敗利鈍

简成败利钝 · 繁成敗利鈍

Mandarin · pinyin chéng bài lì dùn

succeed or fail, sharp or blunt (idiom); advantages and disadvantages
success and failure
You win some, you lose some.

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Characters in this entry

成: chéng · completed, finished, fixed
敗: Look up this written character
利: lì · gains, advantage, profit, merit
鈍: Look up this written character
败: bài · be defeated, decline, fail
钝: dùn · blunt, obtuse; dull; flat; dull-witted

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

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Mandarin tones

2–4–4–4 · cheng2 bai4 li4 dun4

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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.

成敗利鈍 · find source passages ↗ · 成败利钝 · 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) success or failure; smoothness or setback

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

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