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不為五斗米折腰

简不为五斗米折腰 · 繁不為五斗米折腰

Cantonese · source Jyutpingbat1 wai6 ng5 dau2 mai5 zit3 jiu1

would not compromise for living or survival

About these definitions

Source definition segments, in their original order. Characters a definition cites are shown without their Mandarin pinyin; classifier lists that CC-Canto copied from CC-CEDICT are marked Mandarin. The community dictionary is not independently verified by zimai.

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Reading & tones

bat11 · high levelchecked · -twai66 · low levelng55 · low risingdau22 · high risingmai55 · low risingzit33 · mid levelchecked · -tjiu11 · high level

Schematic citation-tone diagrams from the source numbers. These are not recordings or predictions of connected speech.

Tone difference from Unihan

為 is read wai6 here; Unihan’s citation reading is wai4. Same syllable, different tone across these source readings. CC-Canto also lists 為 wai6 as its own entry.
斗 is read dau2 here; Unihan’s citation reading is dau3. Same syllable, different tone across these source readings.

Computed by zimai: each syllable of the CC-Canto word reading is compared with Unihan 17.0.0 kCantonese for its character. The comparison does not say why a reading differs (a changed tone, 變音, a reading tied to one meaning, or a source variant).

Same syllable, six tones

bat不bat1notbat2—bat3—bat4—bat5—拔bat6to pull up

wai威wai1power 委wai2to entrust 畏wai3to fear 为wai4to do 伟wai5big 位wai6position

ngng1—ng2—ng3—吾ng4I 五ng5five 误ng6mistake

dau兜dau1pocket 抖dau2to tremble 斗dau3dau4—dau5—逗dau6to stay

maimai1—mai2—mai3—迷mai4to bewilder 米mai5rice 袂mai6

zitzit1—zit2—节zit3festivalzit4—zit5—截zit6to cut off

jiu腰jiu1waist 扰jiu2to disturb 要jiu3important 搖jiu4to shake 绕jiu5to wind 耀jiu6brilliant

Characters whose customary Unihan reading (kCantonese) is this syllable in each tone, chosen as in the tone atlas (2013 standard level, then the number of CC-CEDICT words they form), with CC-Canto 2017's meaning for that reading; a dash means no catalogue character has that reading. Checked syllables (-p, -t, -k) normally carry tones 1, 3 and 6. Character readings, not word readings; no frequency implied.

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Written characters

不為五斗米折腰为

Both source spellings are represented. Written membership is not an etymological or semantic claim.

Cantonese characters and the Mandarin bridge ↗

Mandarin comparison · separate source entries

CC-Canto includes this pinyin reference: bu4 wei4 wu3 dou3 mi3 zhe2 yao1. It does not establish a Mandarin word with the same meaning.

Look up this spelling in the Mandarin dictionary ↗

Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

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

phrase

(idiomatic) to not compromise one's integrity just to earn a small salary in a dead-end job; to not sacrifice one's ideals in order to make a living

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

Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack