DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

則已

简则已 · 繁則已

Mandarin · pinyin zé yǐ

(literary) used in expressions of the form 不 bù + (verb) + 則已 zé yǐ ... "either don't (verb) at all, or if you do, ..."

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Characters in this entry

則: Look up this written character
已: yǐ · already; finished; stop
则: zé · rule, law, regulation; grades

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

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Mandarin tones

2–3 · ze2 yi3

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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.

則已 · find source passages ↗ · 则已 · find source passages ↗

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