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一朝天子一朝臣

Mandarin · pinyin yī cháo tiān zǐ yī cháo chén

new emperor, new officials (idiom)
a new chief brings in new aides

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Characters in this entry

一: yī · one; a, an; alone
朝: cháo · dynasty; morning
天: tiān · sky, heaven; god, celestial
子: zǐ · offspring, child; fruit, seed of; first earthly branch
臣: chén · minister, statesman, official; Kangxi radical 131

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

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Mandarin tones

1–2–1–3–1–2–2 · yi1 chao2 tian1 zi3 yi1 chao2 chen2

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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

jat1 ciu4 tin1 zi2 jat1 ciu4 san4

Cantonese word readings for 一朝天子一朝臣. 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.

proverb

When a leader falls from power, his/her subordinates may fall from power too.

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

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