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作樂

简作乐 · 繁作樂

Mandarin · pinyin zuò lè

to make merry

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Characters in this entry

作: zuò · make; work; compose, write; act, perform
樂: lè · happy, glad; enjoyable; music
乐: lè · happy, glad; enjoyable; music

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

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Mandarin tones

4–4 · zuo4 le4

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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.

作樂 · find source passages ↗ · 作乐 · find source passages ↗

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Rime Cantonese 粵拼

zok3 lok6

Cantonese word readings for 作樂. 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 · Etymology 1

(formal) to frolic and be merry

verb · Etymology 2

to compose music
to play music

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

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