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任人唯賢

简任人唯贤 · 繁任人唯賢

Mandarin · pinyin rèn rén wéi xián

to appoint people according to their merits (idiom); appointment on the basis of ability and integrity

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Characters in this entry

任: rèn · trust to, rely on, appoint; to bear, duty, office; allow
人: rén · man; people; mankind; someone else
唯: wéi · only; yes
賢: Look up this written character
贤: xián · virtuous, worthy, good; able

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

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Mandarin tones

4–2–2–2 · ren4 ren2 wei2 xian2

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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.

任人唯賢 · find source passages ↗ · 任人唯贤 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 2 senses · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

jam6 jan4 wai4 jin4

Cantonese word readings for 任人唯賢. 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.

verb

to appoint people based on merit

noun

meritocracy

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

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