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作古

Mandarin · pinyin zuò gǔ

to die
to pass away

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Characters in this entry

作: zuò · make; work; compose, write; act, perform
古: gǔ · old, classic, ancient

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

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Mandarin tones

4–3 · zuo4 gu3

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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.

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

zok3 gu2

Cantonese word readings for 作古. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

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Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

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

verb

(literary, euphemistic) to pass away; to die

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

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