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不患寡而患不均

Mandarin · pinyin bù huàn guǎ ér huàn bù jūn

do not worry about scarcity, but rather about uneven distribution (idiom, from Analects)

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Characters in this entry

不: bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
患: huàn · suffer, worry about; suffering
寡: guǎ · widowed; alone, friendless
而: ér · and; and then; and yet; but; Kangxi radical 126
均: jūn · equal, even, fair; all, also

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Mandarin tones

4–4–3–2–4–4–1 · bu4 huan4 gua3 er2 huan4 bu4 jun1

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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

bat1 waan6 gwaa2 ji4 waan6 bat1 gwan1

Cantonese word readings for 不患寡而患不均. 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

(of money, wealth etc.) Do not worry if there is not enough to go around, only worry if it is not evenly distributed (among the people).

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

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