DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

不知者不罪

Mandarin · pinyin bù zhī zhě bù zuì

One who does not know is not guilty
If one does not know any better, one cannot be held responsible

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Characters in this entry

不: bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
知: zhī · know, perceive, comprehend
者: zhě · that which; he who; those who
罪: zuì · crime, sin, vice; evil; hardship

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

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Mandarin tones

4–1–3–4–4 · bu4 zhi1 zhe3 bu4 zui4

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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 zi1 ze2 bat1 zeoi6

Cantonese word readings for 不知者不罪. 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

One who errs unknowingly need not be held responsible.

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

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