中原逐鹿 — “To contend for supremacy”

Q: What is the Chinese definition of 中原逐鹿?

指群雄并起，争夺天下。

中原逐鹿 is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “to contend for supremacy”. To vie for power or control; to scramble for control. Literally, “Chasing deer in the Central Plains”.

Frequency

中原逐鹿 Pronunciation and Pinyin

中原逐鹿 Character Breakdown

Stroke Order

Character	Pinyin	Strokes	Meaning
中	zhōng	4	middle, in, China, hit, win
原	yuán	10	original, primary, plain
逐	zhú	11	expel, pursue, or one by one
鹿	lù	11	deer

Example Sentence with 中原逐鹿

自从老董事长退休后，公司内部出现了中原逐鹿的局面，各部门经理都想争取最高领导权

Since the old chairman retired, a situation of scrambling for control emerged within the company, with various department managers vying for the top leadership.

Origin and Story of 中原逐鹿

During the Jin Dynasty, among the Five Barbarians and Sixteen Kingdoms in the north, Shi Le, the king of Zhao, was exceptionally talented but also self-important. One day, he asked his minister, Xu Guang, which historical emperor he could be compared to. Xu Guang responded by comparing him to Emperor Gaozu of Han, Liu Bang.

Shi Le chuckled, saying that he felt he could only be a subordinate to Liu Bang. However, if he were to contend with Liu Xiu in the Central Plains, vying for supremacy, he wondered who would ultimately emerge victorious (literally, 'who the deer would fall to').