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以藥養醫

简以药养医 · 繁以藥養醫

Mandarin · pinyin yǐ yào yǎng yī

"drugs serving to nourish doctors", perceived problem in PRC medical practice

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Characters in this entry

以: yǐ · by means of; thereby, therefore; consider as; in order to
藥: Look up this written character
養: yǎng · raise, rear, bring up; support
醫: Look up this written character
药: yào · leaf of Dahurian angelica plant; medicine
养: yǎng · raise, rear, bring up; support
医: yī · cure, heal; doctor, medical

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

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Mandarin tones

3–4–3–1 · yi3 yao4 yang3 yi1

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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.

以藥養醫 · find source passages ↗ · 以药养医 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

ji5 joek6 joeng5 ji1

Cantonese word readings for 以藥養醫. 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.

noun

the practice of hospitals and doctors using profits gained from the sale of pharmaceuticals to sustain themselves

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

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