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何樂而不為

简何乐而不为 · 繁何樂而不為

Mandarin · pinyin hé lè ér bù wéi

what is there against it? (rhetorical question indicating an eagerness or willingness to do sth)

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Characters in this entry

何: hé · what, why, where, which, how
樂: lè · happy, glad; enjoyable; music
而: ér · and; and then; and yet; but; Kangxi radical 126
不: bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
為: Look up this written character
乐: lè · happy, glad; enjoyable; music
为: wèi · do, handle, govern, act; be

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

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Mandarin tones

2–4–2–4–2 · he2 le4 er2 bu4 wei2

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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.

何樂而不為 · find source passages ↗ · 何乐而不为 · find source passages ↗

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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

why not do it? why unwilling to do it?

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

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