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失道寡助

Mandarin · pinyin shī dào guǎ zhù

an unjust cause finds little support (idiom, from Mencius)
cf 得道多助 dé dào duō zhù a just cause attracts much support

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Characters in this entry

失: shī · lose; make mistake, neglect
道: dào · path, road, street; method, way
寡: guǎ · widowed; alone, friendless
助: zhù · help, aid, assist

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

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Mandarin tones

1–4–3–4 · shi1 dao4 gua3 zhu4

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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

sat1 dou6 gwaa2 zo6

Cantonese word readings for 失道寡助. 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.

phrase

(idiomatic) An unjust cause attracts little support.

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

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