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光宗耀祖

Mandarin · pinyin guāng zōng yào zǔ

to bring honor to one's ancestors

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Characters in this entry

光: guāng · light, brilliant, shine; only
宗: zōng · lineage, ancestry; ancestor, clan
耀: yào · shine, sparkle, dazzle; glory
祖: zǔ · ancestor, forefather; grandfather

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

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Mandarin tones

1–1–4–3 · guang1 zong1 yao4 zu3

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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.

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

gwong1 zung1 jiu6 zou2

Cantonese word readings for 光宗耀祖. 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 bring honour to one's ancestors and clan

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

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