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善罷甘休

简善罢甘休 · 繁善罷甘休

Mandarin · pinyin shàn bà gān xiū

(idiom) to let the matter rest; to just let it go; to take it lying down (usu. used in the negative)

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Characters in this entry

善: shàn · good, virtuous, charitable, kind
罷: bà · cease, finish, stop; give up
甘: gān · sweetness; sweet, tasty
休: xiū · rest, stop; retire; do not!
罢: bà · cease, finish, stop; give up

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

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Mandarin tones

4–4–1–1 · shan4 ba4 gan1 xiu1

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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.

善罷甘休 · find source passages ↗ · 善罢甘休 · find source passages ↗

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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.

verb

(chiefly in the negative) to let go or give up easily

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

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