DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

克己奉公

Mandarin · pinyin kè jǐ fèng gōng

self-restraint and devotion to public duties (idiom); selfless dedication
to serve the public interest wholeheartedly

Full entryShow on map

Characters in this entry

克: kè · gram; overcome; transliteration
己: jǐ · self, oneself; personal, private; 6th heavenly stem
奉: fèng · offer; receive; serve; respect
公: gōng · fair, equitable; public; duke

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

Explore the spelling

Mandarin tones

4–3–4–1 · ke4 ji3 feng4 gong1

Compare attested words with these syllables ↗

Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.

Connected dictionary

4character 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.

克己奉公 · find source passages ↗

Explore Classical grammar ↗

Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

hak1 gei2 fung6 gung1

Cantonese word readings for 克己奉公. 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 be wholeheartedly devoted to public duty; to work selflessly for the public interest

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

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