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任重道遠

简任重道远 · 繁任重道遠

Mandarin · pinyin rèn zhòng dào yuǎn

a heavy load and a long road
fig. to bear heavy responsibilities through a long struggle (cf Confucian Analects, 8.7)

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Characters in this entry

任: rèn · trust to, rely on, appoint; to bear, duty, office; allow
重: zhòng · heavy, weighty; double
道: dào · path, road, street; method, way
遠: yuǎn · distant, remote, far; profound
远: yuǎn · distant, remote, far; profound

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

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Mandarin tones

4–4–4–3 · ren4 zhong4 dao4 yuan3

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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.

任重道遠 · find source passages ↗ · 任重道远 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

jam6 zung6 dou6 jyun5

Cantonese word readings for 任重道遠. 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) to shoulder a heavy responsibility for a long time

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

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