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不見兔子不撒鷹

简不见兔子不撒鹰 · 繁不見兔子不撒鷹

Mandarin · pinyin bù jiàn tù zi bù sā yīng

you don't release the hawk until you've seen the hare (idiom)
one doesn't act before one is sure to succeed

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Characters in this entry

不: bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
見: jiàn · see, observe, behold; perceive; Kangxi radical 147
兔: tù · rabbit, hare
子: zǐ · offspring, child; fruit, seed of; first earthly branch
撒: sā · release, cast away, let go; disperse; relax
鷹: Look up this written character
见: jiàn · see, observe, behold; perceive
鹰: yīng · falcon; Accipiter species (various)

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

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Mandarin tones

4–4–4–5–4–1–1 · bu4 jian4 tu4 zi5 bu4 sa1 ying1

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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.

不見兔子不撒鷹 · find source passages ↗ · 不见兔子不撒鹰 · find source passages ↗

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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) don't rush to take actions until you've made your objective clear

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

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