| 争 |
zhēng xiān | to compete to be first / to contest first place |
| 争 |
zhēng | to strive for / to vie for / to argue or debate / deficient or lacking (dialect) / how or what (literary) |
| 先 |
xiān | beforehand; first; earlier / at first; originally / for the time being; for now / (prefix) my late (in referring to deceased relatives older than oneself) |