胜者王侯败者寇 in English sheng4 zhe3 wang2 hou2 bai4 zhe3 kou4 Meaning

Meanings

  • the winners become princes and marquises; the losers are vilified as bandits (idiomatic expression)
  • history is written by the victors

Simplified Characters

胜 者 王 侯 败 者 寇

Traditional Characters

勝 者 王 侯 敗 者 寇

Pinyin

sheng4 zhe3 wang2 hou2 bai4 zhe3 kou4

Literal

Literal explanation, with pronunciation and meaning of each character.

胜sheng4victory 者zhe3(after a verb or adjective) one who (is) ... 王wang2surname Wang 侯hou2surname Hou 败bai4to defeat 者zhe3(after a verb or adjective) one who (is) ... 寇kou4old variant of 寇[kou4]