The New Dictionary.
Search dictionary
Chinese/Dictionary entry

南征北伐

nán zhēng běi fádictionary entry
DEFINITION CC-CEDICT
war on all sides (idiom) / fighting from all four quarters
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-962131889634b6b3. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

南征北伐 南征北伐 [nan2 zheng1 bei3 fa2] /war on all sides (idiom); fighting from all four quarters/

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.

  • 南
    nā

    used in 南無|南无[nā mó] / Taiwan pr. [ná]

    nán

    south

    Nán

    surname Nan

  • 征
    zhēng

    journey / trip / expedition / to go on long campaign / to attack / to invite / to recruit / to levy (taxes) / to draft (troops) / phenomenon / symptom / characteristic sign (used as proof) / evidence

  • 北
    běi

    north / (classical) to be defeated

  • 伐
    fá

    to cut down / to fell / to dispatch an expedition against / to attack / to boast / Taiwan pr. [fā]

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.