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井水不犯河水

Mandarin · pinyin jǐng shuǐ bù fàn hé shuǐ

(saying) everyone minds their own business

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Characters in this entry

井: jǐng · well, mine shaft, pit; surname; 22nd lunar mansion, determinative star μ Geminorum (Tejat); hexagram ䷯
水: shuǐ · water, liquid, lotion, juice
不: bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
犯: fàn · commit crime, violate; criminal
河: hé · river; stream; the Yellow River

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

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Mandarin tones

3–3–4–4–2–3 · jing3 shui3 bu4 fan4 he2 shui3

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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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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

zeng2 seoi2 bat1 faan6 ho4 seoi2

Cantonese word readings for 井水不犯河水. 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.

phrase

(idiomatic) “wellwater not interfering with the river water”—two things keeping to themselves; everyone minding their own business

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

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