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吃水不忘挖井人

Mandarin · pinyin chī shuǐ bù wàng wā jǐng rén

see 吃水不忘掘井人 chī shuǐ bù wàng jué jǐng rén

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Characters in this entry

吃: chī · eat; drink; suffer, endure, bear
水: shuǐ · water, liquid, lotion, juice
不: bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
忘: wàng · forget; neglect; miss, omit
挖: wā · dig, dig out, gouge out, scoop
井: jǐng · well, mine shaft, pit; surname; 22nd lunar mansion, determinative star μ Geminorum (Tejat); hexagram ䷯
人: rén · man; people; mankind; someone else

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Mandarin tones

1–3–4–4–1–3–2 · chi1 shui3 bu4 wang4 wa1 jing3 ren2

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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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Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

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

phrase

(idiomatic) One should remember to be grateful to the people who made one's good fortune possible.

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

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