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上善若水

Mandarin · pinyin shàng shàn ruò shuǐ

the ideal is to be like water (which benefits all living things and does not struggle against them) (quotation from the "Book of Dao" 道德經 Dào dé jīng)

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Characters in this entry

上: shàng · top; superior, highest; go up, send up
善: shàn · good, virtuous, charitable, kind
若: ruò · if, supposing, assuming; similar
水: shuǐ · water, liquid, lotion, juice

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

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Mandarin tones

4–4–4–3 · shang4 shan4 ruo4 shui3

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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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Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

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

phrase

(simile) to be perfectly virtuous and benevolent

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

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