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何為

简何为 · 繁何為

Mandarin · pinyin hé wéi#

what is
(old) what for
(in a rhetorical question) it's no use

Mandarin · pinyin hé wèi#

(old) why

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Characters in this entry

何: hé · what, why, where, which, how
為: Look up this written character
为: wèi · do, handle, govern, act; be

Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

2–2 · he2 wei2

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Read this spelling in Classical texts

Follow a written form into the eight pinned witnesses: Analects, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi, Sunzi and the Mao Shijing. A match is a place to investigate; it does not prove that a modern dictionary sense fits the passage.

何為 · find source passages ↗ · 何为 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 3 senses

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

adv

(literary) what is
(literary) do what

adv

(literary) why

Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history

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