DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

假手於人

简假手于人 · 繁假手於人

Mandarin · pinyin jiǎ shǒu yú rén

(idiom) to get one's own task done by sb else

Full entryShow on map

Characters in this entry

假: jiǎ · falsehood, deception; vacation
手: shǒu · hand
於: yú · yū · in, at, on; interjection alas!
人: rén · man; people; mankind; someone else
于: yú · in, on, at; go to; surname

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

Explore the spelling

Mandarin tones

3–3–2–2 · jia3 shou3 yu2 ren2

Compare attested words with these syllables ↗

Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.

Connected dictionary

5character links

Explore word families ↗Compare pronunciations ↗Open character structure ↗

Counts describe dictionary records, not word frequency or semantic similarity. Source identities stay separate.

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.

假手於人 · find source passages ↗ · 假手于人 · find source passages ↗

Explore Classical grammar ↗

Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

gaa2 sau2 jyu1 jan4

Cantonese word readings for 假手於人. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

CanCLID contributors · CC BY 4.0 · source & license · Data pack

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

phrase

(idiomatic) to rely on or make use of others to get something done or accomplish one's own goals

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

Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack