不打不成才

Mandarin · pinyin bù dǎ bù chéng cái

Meanings

  1. spare the rod and spoil the child (idiom)
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Characters in this entry

不
bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
打
dǎ · strike, hit, beat; fight; attack
成
chéng · completed, finished, fixed
才
cái · talent, ability; just, only
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

4–3–4–2–2 · bu4 da3 bu4 cheng2 cai2

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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.

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