知彼知己
zhī bǐ zhī jǐ
Pinyin

Definition

知彼知己
 - 
zhī bǐ zhī jǐ
  1. to know the enemy and know oneself (idiom, from Sunzi's "The Art of War")

Character Decomposition

Related Words (20)

知道
zhī dào
  1. 1 to know
  2. 2 to become aware of
  3. 3 also pr. [zhī dao]
自己
zì jǐ
  1. 1 oneself
  2. 2 one's own
不知不觉
bù zhī bù jué
  1. 1 unconsciously
  2. 2 unwittingly
不知所措
bù zhī suǒ cuò
  1. 1 not knowing what to do (idiom); at one's wits' end
  2. 2 embarrassed and at a complete loss
告知
gào zhī
  1. 1 to inform
己
jǐ
  1. 1 self
  2. 2 oneself
  3. 3 sixth of the ten Heavenly Stems 十天干[shí tiān gān]
  4. 4 sixth in order
  5. 5 letter "F" or Roman "VI" in list "A, B, C", or "I, II, III" etc
  6. 6 hexa
彼此
bǐ cǐ
  1. 1 each other
  2. 2 one another
得知
dé zhī
  1. 1 to find out
  2. 2 to know
  3. 3 to learn about
明知
míng zhī
  1. 1 to be fully aware of
  2. 2 to know perfectly well
无知
wú zhī
  1. 1 ignorant
  2. 2 ignorance
知
zhī
  1. 1 to know
  2. 2 to be aware
知名
zhī míng
  1. 1 well-known
  2. 2 famous
知己
zhī jǐ
  1. 1 to know oneself
  2. 2 to be intimate or close
  3. 3 intimate friend
知心
zhī xīn
  1. 1 caring
  2. 2 intimate
知识
zhī shi
  1. 1 knowledge
  2. 2 CL:門|门[mén]
  3. 3 intellectual
知足
zhī zú
  1. 1 content with one's situation
  2. 2 to know contentment (hence happiness)
通知
tōng zhī
  1. 1 to notify
  2. 2 to inform
  3. 3 notice
  4. 4 notification
  5. 5 CL:個|个[gè]
一问三不知
yī wèn sān bù zhī
  1. 1 lit. to reply "don't know" whatever the question (idiom)
  2. 2 fig. absolutely no idea of what's going on
  3. 3 complete ignorance
一己
yī jǐ
  1. 1 oneself
一望而知
yī wàng ér zhī
  1. 1 to be evident at a glance (idiom)

Idioms (20)

一问三不知
yī wèn sān bù zhī
  1. 1 lit. to reply "don't know" whatever the question (idiom)
  2. 2 fig. absolutely no idea of what's going on
  3. 3 complete ignorance
一望而知
yī wàng ér zhī
  1. 1 to be evident at a glance (idiom)
一无所知
yī wú suǒ zhī
  1. 1 not knowing anything at all (idiom); completely ignorant
  2. 2 without an inkling
一知半解
yī zhī bàn jiě
  1. 1 lit. to know one and understand half (idiom); a smattering of knowledge
  2. 2 dilettante
  3. 3 amateur
一叶知秋
yī yè zhī qiū
  1. 1 lit. the falling of one leaf heralds the coming of autumn (idiom)
  2. 2 fig. a small sign can indicate a great trend
  3. 3 a straw in the wind
不分彼此
bù fēn bǐ cǐ
  1. 1 to make no distinction between what's one's own and what's another's (idiom)
  2. 2 to share everything
  3. 3 to be on very intimate terms
不当家不知柴米贵
bù dāng jiā bù zhī chái mǐ guì
  1. 1 a person who doesn't manage a household would not be aware how expensive it is (idiom)
不知丁董
bù zhī Dīng Dǒng
  1. 1 forgetting the fate of Ding and Dong (idiom)
  2. 2 unheeding the lessons of the past
不知好歹
bù zhī hǎo dǎi
  1. 1 unable to differentiate good from bad (idiom)
  2. 2 not to know what's good for one
  3. 3 unable to recognize others' good intentions
不知所措
bù zhī suǒ cuò
  1. 1 not knowing what to do (idiom); at one's wits' end
  2. 2 embarrassed and at a complete loss
不知死活
bù zhī sǐ huó
  1. 1 to act recklessly (idiom)
不知轻重
bù zhī qīng zhòng
  1. 1 lit. not knowing what's important (idiom); no appreciation of the gravity of things
  2. 2 naive
  3. 3 doesn't know who's who
  4. 4 no sense of priorities
不知进退
bù zhī jìn tuì
  1. 1 not knowing when to come or leave (idiom); with no sense of propriety
事不关己
shì bù guān jǐ
  1. 1 a matter of no concern to oneself (idiom)
事不关己，高高挂起
shì bù guān jǐ , gāo gāo guà qǐ
  1. 1 to feel unconcerned and let matters rest (idiom)
人在江湖，身不由己
rén zài jiāng hú , shēn bù yóu jǐ
  1. 1 you can't always do as you like
  2. 2 one has to compromise in this world (idiom)
他乡遇故知
tā xiāng yù gù zhī
  1. 1 meeting an old friend in a foreign place (idiom)
克己复礼
kè jǐ fù lǐ
  1. 1 restrain yourself and return to the rites (idiom, from Analects); to subdue self and observe proprieties
  2. 2 (any number of possible translations)
克己奉公
kè jǐ fèng gōng
  1. 1 self-restraint and devotion to public duties (idiom); selfless dedication
  2. 2 to serve the public interest wholeheartedly
只知其一，不知其二
zhǐ zhī qí yī , bù zhī qí èr
  1. 1 to know the first, but not know the second (idiom); only partial information

Sample Sentences

最有名的一句当属“知彼知己，百战不殆；不知彼而知己，一胜一负，不知彼不知己，每战必败。”
zuì yǒumíng de yījù dāng shǔ “zhībǐzhījǐ ，bǎizhànbùdài ；bù zhī bǐ ér zhī jǐ ，yī shèng yī fù ，bù zhī bǐ bù zhī jǐ ，měi zhàn bì bài 。”
The most famous quote is “to know your enemy and yourself is to win every war; not to know your enemy but only yourself leads to wins and losses, not to know your enemy and yourself will lead to losses each time.
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呵呵，你真逗。其实孙子的许多军事主张，比如“知彼知己，百战不殆”、出奇制胜等等，早已是公认的现代商战的重要法则了。我越研究越觉得这本书应该改名为《孙子商法》。
āā ，nǐ zhēn dòu 。qíshí Sūnzǐ de xǔduō jūnshì zhǔzhāng ，bǐrú “zhībǐzhījǐ ，bǎizhànbùdài ”、chūqízhìshèng děngděng ，zǎoyǐ shì gōngrèn de xiàndài shāngzhàn de zhòngyào fǎzé le 。wǒ yuè yánjiū yuè juéde zhè běn shū yīnggāi gǎimíng wéi 《Sūnzǐ shāngfǎ 》。
Ha ha you're really funny. Actually, a lot of Sunzi's advice was accepted early on as good rules for doing business. Some examples are ``If you know yourself, and you know your enemy, you need not fear the outcome of a hundred battles," and ``Use surprise tactics to achieve victory." The more I study this book, the more I think it should be called ``The Art of Business."
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