Glossary entry

Chinese term or phrase:

逢敌能辨行家手,何愁胜利不此时。

English translation:

One can identify professional skills when confronting a true apponent, why bothering victory of ...

Added to glossary by Nai-Ching Ting
Jan 6, 2008 16:04
16 yrs ago
Chinese term

逢敌能辨行家手,何愁胜利不此时。

Chinese to English Art/Literary Philosophy martial arts
this is part of the explanation to the famous saying "know yourself and know your enemy...." I understand the meaning but I can't translate it. can you help me?
谢谢
Change log

Jan 7, 2008 15:07: Nai-Ching Ting Created KOG entry

Proposed translations

+1
42 mins
Selected

One can identify professional skills when confronting a true apponent, why bothering victory of ...

Just a trial for your reference:
One can identify professional skills when confronting a true apponent, why bothering victory of the immeidate moment.
Peer comment(s):

agree Wenjer Leuschel (X)
37 mins
Thank you!
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2 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
6 hrs

If one is capable of distinguishing whether his opponent is professional or not, why worry about not

Just my two cents:

If one is capable of distinguishing whether his opponent is professional or not, why worry about not winning at the moment?
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+1
6 hrs

[If]one can recognize his adversary as an expert, why worry about immediate victory?

This is a colloquial way to translate the phrase. I left out the 逢 because it is already implied. Since 何 is sort of a rhetorical question, I placed a question mark at the end.

One could also translate the 何愁 as "why bother with", instead of "why worry about." It just depends on your preference.
Peer comment(s):

agree Smartrans He
3 hrs
Thanks Smartrans!
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16 hrs

Know your enemy's strength and you'll win at any time.

I don't think "何愁" is about "worrying" or "bothering" but it's a way of expressing certainty. It's like saying like saying "if A happens how can B not happen"...
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17 hrs

Being good at knowing your enemy will ensure you a victory on the spot.

Here 逢敌能辨 means "able to size up your enemy and determine his strenths and weaknesses when confronted with him", "行家手" = “行家里手”means "an old hand, an expert, a guru, a skilled master etc.", so "逢敌能辨行家手" means "if you are good at knowing your enemy, if you are an expert in this regard, you would be a real master, a real expert." or we can put it another way, if you are an expert, you must know how to know your enemy when confronted with him. 何愁=how would it be necessary to worry, 不此时=not at this time, not on the spot, so 何愁胜利不此时 means "why do you worry that you cannot win now, on the spot, etc." So the whole sentence can be paraphrased in another way: if you are an old hand at weighing your enemy's strengths and weaknesses, how can it be that you need to worry about your victory right away?
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