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吉人自有天相

Mandarin · pinyin jí rén zì yǒu tiān xiàng

Heaven helps the worthy (idiom)

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Characters in this entry

吉: jí · lucky, propitious, good
人: rén · man; people; mankind; someone else
自: zì · self, private, personal; from; Kangxi radical 132
有: yǒu · have, own, possess; exist
天: tiān · sky, heaven; god, celestial
相: xiāng · mutual, reciprocal, each other

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

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Mandarin tones

2–2–4–3–1–4 · ji2 ren2 zi4 you3 tian1 xiang4

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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

gat1 jan4 zi6 jau5 tin1 soeng3

Cantonese word readings for 吉人自有天相. 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.

proverb

A good person naturally enjoys the help from the Heaven. (Used as blessing words for people in difficulties)

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

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