不分胜败 — “To be evenly matched”

Q: What is the Chinese definition of 不分胜败?

指双方势均力敌，分不出高低

不分胜败 is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “to be evenly matched”. To fight to a draw; neither side gaining an advantage. Literally, “Unable to distinguish victory or defeat”.

Frequency

不分胜败 Pronunciation and Pinyin

不分胜败 Character Breakdown

Stroke Order

Character	Pinyin	Strokes	Meaning
不	bù	4	not
分	fēn	4	divide, separate, share
胜	shèng	9	win, be victorious
败	bài	8	lose, fail, defeat, ruin

Example Sentence with 不分胜败

在最后的决赛中，两位棋手你来我往，棋逢对手，最终打了个不分胜败

In the final match, the two chess players exchanged moves, each meeting a worthy opponent, and ultimately ended in a draw, with neither side prevailing.

Origin and Story of 不分胜败

During the Three Kingdoms period, Zhang Fei heard that Ma Chao was coming to attack Jiameng Pass. He immediately led his troops to meet the challenge, only to find that it was Ma Dai who came to fight. Displeased, Zhang Fei defeated Ma Dai and sent him back to the enemy camp.

Ma Chao then came out to engage in battle. Liu Bei also arrived to observe. The two generals fought for hundreds of rounds, yet neither side could claim victory.

They continued their fierce battle for more than 20 rounds into the night, still without a clear winner.