一人敌

一人敵

yīréndí

idiom

Meanings

1 one-man's match
2 mere personal bravery, good only against a single opponent
3 brute courage, as opposed to strategy

Characters

enemy; to match

Examples

剑，一人敌，不足学；学万人敌。

Jiàn, yī rén dí, bù zú xué; xué wàn rén dí.

Swordsmanship is a one-man skill, not worth learning — learn to command ten thousand.

逞一人敌之勇，不如用兵法。

Chěng yī rén dí zhī yǒng, bùrú yòng bīngfǎ.

Flashing personal bravery is worse than using strategy.

Tips

history

From 《史记·项羽本纪》: the young Xiang Yu dismissed swordsmanship with 'sword fighting is a one-man's match — I want to learn to fight ten thousand.' The phrase frames personal bravery as inferior to 万人敌 (strategic command).

Stroke Order

一 yī

人 rén

敌 dí