胜者王侯败者寇 shèng zhě wáng hóu bài zhě kòu

history is written by the victors

Word data

HSK Not in HSK
Frequency Unknown

Definitions

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

Characters

Character Meaning
victory; victorious; to defeat
(after a verb or adjective) one who (is) ...
surname Wang; king or monarch
surname Hou; nobleman or high official
to fail; to lose (to an opponent); to defeat
(after a verb or adjective) one who (is) ...
bandit; to invade; to plunder