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來日方長

简来日方长 · 繁來日方長

Mandarin · pinyin lái rì fāng cháng

the future is long (idiom); there will be ample time for that later
We'll cross that bridge when we get there

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Characters in this entry

來: lái · come, coming; return, returning
日: rì · sun; day; daytime
方: fāng · a square, rectangle; a region; local
長: zhǎng · long; length; excel in; leader; Kangxi radical 168
来: lái · come, coming; return, returning
长: zhǎng · long; length; excel in; leader

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

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Mandarin tones

2–4–1–2 · lai2 ri4 fang1 chang2

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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.

來日方長 · find source passages ↗ · 来日方长 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

loi4 jat6 fong1 coeng4

Cantonese word readings for 來日方長. 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) there are many days ahead of us

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

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