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勉為其難

简勉为其难 · 繁勉為其難

Mandarin · pinyin miǎn wéi qí nán

to tackle a difficult job (idiom)
to do sth reluctantly

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Characters in this entry

勉: miǎn · endeavor, make effort; urge
為: Look up this written character
其: qí · his, her, its, their; that
難: Look up this written character
为: wèi · do, handle, govern, act; be
难: nán · difficult, arduous, hard; unable

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

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Mandarin tones

3–2–2–2 · mian3 wei2 qi2 nan2

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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.

勉為其難 · find source passages ↗ · 勉为其难 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 2 senses

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

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

phrase

(idiomatic) to reluctantly do something that is almost beyond one's ability or something that one does not wish to do
(idiomatic) to force someone to do something that he/she is hardly capable of or is unwilling to do

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

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