仗義執言

简 仗义执言 · 繁 仗義執言
Mandarin · pinyin zhàng yì zhí yán

Meanings

  1. to speak out for justice (idiom); to take a stand on a matter of principle
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Characters in this entry

仗
zhàng · rely upon; protector; fight; war, weaponry
義
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執
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言
yán · words, speech; speak, say; Kangxi radical 149
义
yì · right conduct, righteousness
执
zhí · hold in hand; keep; carry out
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

4–4–2–2 · zhang4 yi4 zhi2 yan2

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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

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

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

phrase

  1. (idiomatic) to speak out from a sense of justice

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

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

仗義執言 · zhang4 yi4 zhi2 yan2
CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG · edition 2026-10-13 · source line 6,215
Original dictionary · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source & transformation details
Exact source record仗義執言 仗义执言 [zhang4 yi4 zhi2 yan2] /to speak out for justice (idiom); to take a stand on a matter of principle/