不見棺材不落淚
简 不见棺材不落泪 · 繁 不見棺材不落淚Meanings
- lit. not to shed a tear until one sees the coffin (idiom)
- fig. refuse to be convinced until one is faced with grim reality
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Mandarin tones
4–4–1–5–4–4–4 · bu4 jian4 guan1 cai5 bu4 luo4 lei4
Compare attested words with these syllables ↗Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.
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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.
不見棺材不落淚 · find source passages ↗ · 不见棺材不落泪 · find source passages ↗
Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading
Rime Cantonese 粵拼
bat1 gin3 gun1 coi4 bat1 lok6 leoi6
Cantonese word readings for 不見棺材不落淚. 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
- synonym of 不見棺材不掉淚 /不见棺材不掉泪 (bùjiàn guāncai bù diàolèi, “to refuse to be convinced until one is faced with the grim reality; tenacious, resolute or pertinacious in one's pursuit of a goal despite of obstacles or advice”)
Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history
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