汉 贼 不 两 立

Hàn zéi bù liǎng lìdictionary entry

lit. Shu Han 蜀漢|蜀汉[Shǔ Hàn] and Cao Wei 曹魏[Cáo Wèi] cannot coexist (idiom) / fig. two enemies cannot live under the same sky / (former KMT slogan against CCP) "gentlemen and thieves cannot coexist"

Sources & editorial notes

Reference definitions: CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG, CC BY-SA 4.0. Source release 2026-10-27T01:55:52Z. Imported 2026-10-27. Definition wording and meaning order are retained. Recognized pronunciation references are displayed with tone marks; the original source record is available below.

Source record: cd-31e7551c037fb815. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

漢賊不兩立 汉贼不两立 [Han4 zei2 bu4 liang3 li4] /lit. Shu Han 蜀漢|蜀汉[Shu3 Han4] and Cao Wei 曹魏[Cao2 Wei4] cannot coexist (idiom)/fig. two enemies cannot live under the same sky/(former KMT slogan against CCP) "gentlemen and thieves cannot coexist"/

Reference definitions and teaching material have separate provenance.

Reference information

The definitions above are from CC-CEDICT. Examples and usage notes are available on selected entries.

Character information

View the individual characters. Their meanings do not necessarily explain the meaning of the whole word.

Other forms in these source records: 漢賊不兩立

汉
hàn
man
Hàn
Han ethnic group / Chinese (language) / the Han dynasty (206 BC-220 AD)
贼
zéi
thief / robber / (bound form) traitor / subversive / (bound form) evil / wicked / sly / shifty / devious / (literary) to harm / to injure / (coll.) extremely / insanely / damn (common in NE China and Taiwan)
不
bù
no / not so / (bound form) not / un-
两
liǎng
two / both / some / a few / tael, unit of weight equal to 50 grams (modern) or 1⁄16 of a catty 斤[jīn] (old)
立
lì
to stand / to set up / to establish / to lay down / to draw up / at once / immediately
Lì
surname Li

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.