堅持

简 坚持 · 繁 堅持
Mandarin · pinyin jiān chí

Meanings

  1. to persevere with
  2. to persist in
  3. to insist on
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Characters in this entry

堅
Look up this written character
持
chí · sustain, support; hold, grasp
坚
jiān · hard, strong, firm; resolute
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

1–2 · jian1 chi2

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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.

堅持 · find source passages ↗ · 坚持 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 2 senses · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

gin1 ci4

Cantonese word readings for 堅持. 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.

verb

  1. to insist on; to persist with; to keep on (doing something); to stick to; to stick with; to persevere
  2. to uphold; to assert; to stick up for; to safeguard; to protect; to maintain

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

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