<p>although I'm a native speaker, I still can't tell you the difference between them. In fact they have the same meaning, maybe include some little difference. </p>

<p>we always use them as following method:
征伐, 征讨, 侵袭</p>

<p>but don't mind it. Chinese is not a strict language. for example, elevator and escalator,we just use one word to describe them:电梯 sometimes we also use 手扶梯 to specific the escalator. But nobody will be puzzle when you say elevator when you point to a escalator.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-12-20T09:15:00.133Z
2013-12-20T09:15:00.133Z
大崔同学
<p>As single characters they are only used in classical Chinese scripts, and their level of just decreases as has been listed before. </p>

<p>征 usually describes a war initiated by the emporor against local rebels/nomades.</p>

<p>伐 describes a war between emporors/kings/dukes because of various affairs political, marital, etc.</p>

<p>讨 describes a war initiated by a low class, sometimes a minister, against a high class. e.g.讨武曌檄文</p>

<p>侵 describes a war unfair without proper Casus Belli, typically strong kingdoms bullying weak kungdoms.</p>

<p>袭 describes a battle initiated when the opponent is unprepared.</p>

<p>攻 means to attack on a general sense.</p>

<p>Note: Meaning of characters can only help you to understand words, but since mandarin has gone through so many years, it does not have a rigid way of composing words from characters. And in classical Chinese, characters may have plural meanings, and character used for the same meaning changes with time.</p>

<p>Read more:<a href="http://www.douban.com/group/topic/11633451/" rel="nofollow">http://www.douban.com/group/topic/11633451/</a></p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-12-19T08:46:10.820Z
2013-12-19T08:46:10.820Z
Joseph S WU
<p>it is hard to tell what they exactly mean without contexts, but i can give you a very general idea of these characters:</p>

<p>征 (zheng1) means 'wage war by travelling a long distance'. it is usually associated with a war with a very large scale in both space and time.</p>

<p>伐 (fa2) is just 'to wage war against', nothing more. in fact, among all five characters, only the original meaning of 伐 is directly related with war.</p>

<p>讨 (tao3), literally "to demand", means "to wage war demanding justice/punish the wrongdoers"</p>

<p>侵 (qin1) means “to invade" or "to encroach"</p>

<p>袭 (xi2) is usually associated with “sudden attack”.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-12-08T15:08:33.960Z
It should also be noted that both 征 and 讨 are used much more commonly in words where they have different meanings. 征 is most commonly found to mean ‘search for, ask for, inquire, solicit’ (as in 征求 ‘solicit’, 征婚 ‘look for a lover/spouse’, or 征兵 ‘conscript, draft’), while 讨 most commonly means ‘discuss, study’ (as in 讨论 ‘discuss, talk about’). 伐 is not particularly common, but usually means either ‘attack’, ‘punish’, or ‘fell, cut down (trees)’. 袭 is only really common in 袭击 ‘raid, surprise attack’. Only 侵 is really commonly used for ‘invade, encroach’, mostly as 侵略.
Janus Bahs Jacquet
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-12-10T13:34:54.340Z
@JanusBahsJacquet I'd say 讨 is more often used to say "demand return of something previously lent out", e.g. 讨债.
phoeagon
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-12-10T14:52:38.007Z
@phoeagon, that’s common, too. But I for one use the words ‘discuss’ and ‘talk about’ more than I reclaim debts. YMMV, of course, but 讨论 is definitely more common to me than 讨债.
Janus Bahs Jacquet
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-12-11T15:19:09.217Z
@JanusBahsJacquet yeah 讨论(discuss) is probably more common but 讨 along does not mean having an discussion....
phoeagon
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-12-11T20:05:14.063Z
@phoe, hence why I said they are used more commonly _in words where_ they have different meanings. They have different meanings in those words, and those words are much more common than ones that have the meanings related to attacking/invading.
Janus Bahs Jacquet
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-12-12T00:50:00.817Z
You need to also consider the fact that in many bisyllabic compound words, the two characters do not necessarily contribute equally to the whole meaning of the words. For 讨论, the meaning is mostly carried by 论 (which is the ancient monosyllabic word for 'discuss'), and 讨 alone is almost never used in this sense (ancient or modern). So my speculation is that 讨 is later added to make 论 a bisyllabic word due to its semantic connection with 论 ('to demand(verbally)/to ask' with 'to discuss'). Therefore, I think it is not right to say 讨 itself means 'to discuss' simply because a word it is in does.
Mingjing Zhang
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-12-19T10:20:19.090Z
There are some words are combinations of those characters, such as 征讨 讨伐 侵袭, and the meanings should exactly be the  mining combinations of those characters
Kai
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-12-07T08:36:23.300Z
2013-12-07T21:16:29.517Z
2013-12-07T21:16:29.517Z
Mingjing Zhang
<p>These characters all mean "to attack" or "to invade", but what are the differences between them? When should one be used and not the others?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-12-05T13:45:58.470Z
征 - conquer, 讨伐 - punish by invading, 侵 - invade, 袭 - attack.
杨以轩
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-12-05T21:06:26.717Z
Perhaps it would be more illuminating to ask about the words they're used in?
Stumpy Joe Pete
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-12-06T02:17:58.807Z
You will need to ask in compounds that they are used in. They are usually used by themselves, so it's  a bit hard to explain the nuances.
deutschZuid
<word-choice><meaning><difference>
Differences between 征, 伐, 讨, 侵, 袭?
# Differences between 征, 伐, 讨, 侵, 袭?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2013-12-05)

These characters all mean "to attack" or "to invade", but what are the differences between them? When should one be used and not the others?

**Tags:** word-choice, meaning, difference
> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: 征 - conquer, 讨伐 - punish by invading, 侵 - invade, 袭 - attack.  
> **username_2**: Perhaps it would be more illuminating to ask about the words they're used in?  
> **username_3**: You will need to ask in compounds that they are used in. They are usually used by themselves, so it's  a bit hard to explain the nuances.  

---

## 3 answers

### Answer by username_6 on 2013-12-07. Score: 4 | Accepted answer

it is hard to tell what they exactly mean without contexts, but i can give you a very general idea of these characters:

征 (zheng1) means 'wage war by travelling a long distance'. it is usually associated with a war with a very large scale in both space and time.

伐 (fa2) is just 'to wage war against', nothing more. in fact, among all five characters, only the original meaning of 伐 is directly related with war.

讨 (tao3), literally "to demand", means "to wage war demanding justice/punish the wrongdoers"

侵 (qin1) means “to invade" or "to encroach"

袭 (xi2) is usually associated with “sudden attack”.

> **Comments:**
> **username_7**: It should also be noted that both 征 and 讨 are used much more commonly in words where they have different meanings. 征 is most commonly found to mean ‘search for, ask for, inquire, solicit’ (as in 征求 ‘solicit’, 征婚 ‘look for a lover/spouse’, or 征兵 ‘conscript, draft’), while 讨 most commonly means ‘discuss, study’ (as in 讨论 ‘discuss, talk about’). 伐 is not particularly common, but usually means either ‘attack’, ‘punish’, or ‘fell, cut down (trees)’. 袭 is only really common in 袭击 ‘raid, surprise attack’. Only 侵 is really commonly used for ‘invade, encroach’, mostly as 侵略.  
> **username_8**: @JanusBahsJacquet I'd say 讨 is more often used to say "demand return of something previously lent out", e.g. 讨债.  
> **username_7**: @phoeagon, that’s common, too. But I for one use the words ‘discuss’ and ‘talk about’ more than I reclaim debts. YMMV, of course, but 讨论 is definitely more common to me than 讨债.  
> **username_8**: @JanusBahsJacquet yeah 讨论(discuss) is probably more common but 讨 along does not mean having an discussion....  
> **username_7**: @phoe, hence why I said they are used more commonly _in words where_ they have different meanings. They have different meanings in those words, and those words are much more common than ones that have the meanings related to attacking/invading.  
> **username_6**: You need to also consider the fact that in many bisyllabic compound words, the two characters do not necessarily contribute equally to the whole meaning of the words. For 讨论, the meaning is mostly carried by 论 (which is the ancient monosyllabic word for 'discuss'), and 讨 alone is almost never used in this sense (ancient or modern). So my speculation is that 讨 is later added to make 论 a bisyllabic word due to its semantic connection with 论 ('to demand(verbally)/to ask' with 'to discuss'). Therefore, I think it is not right to say 讨 itself means 'to discuss' simply because a word it is in does.  
> **username_9**: There are some words are combinations of those characters, such as 征讨 讨伐 侵袭, and the meanings should exactly be the  mining combinations of those characters  

---

### Answer by username_4 on 2013-12-20. Score: 0

although I'm a native speaker, I still can't tell you the difference between them. In fact they have the same meaning, maybe include some little difference.

we always use them as following method:
征伐, 征讨, 侵袭

but don't mind it. Chinese is not a strict language. for example, elevator and escalator,we just use one word to describe them:电梯 sometimes we also use 手扶梯 to specific the escalator. But nobody will be puzzle when you say elevator when you point to a escalator.


---

### Answer by username_5 on 2013-12-19. Score: 0

As single characters they are only used in classical Chinese scripts, and their level of just decreases as has been listed before.

征 usually describes a war initiated by the emporor against local rebels/nomades.

伐 describes a war between emporors/kings/dukes because of various affairs political, marital, etc.

讨 describes a war initiated by a low class, sometimes a minister, against a high class. e.g.讨武曌檄文

侵 describes a war unfair without proper Casus Belli, typically strong kingdoms bullying weak kungdoms.

袭 describes a battle initiated when the opponent is unprepared.

攻 means to attack on a general sense.

Note: Meaning of characters can only help you to understand words, but since mandarin has gone through so many years, it does not have a rigid way of composing words from characters. And in classical Chinese, characters may have plural meanings, and character used for the same meaning changes with time.

Read more:<http://www.douban.com/group/topic/11633451/>


---

