DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

威尊命賤

简威尊命贱 · 繁威尊命賤

Mandarin · pinyin wēi zūn mìng jiàn

(idiom) the dignity of authority is above life; one must be willing to sacrifice one's life rather than disobey a military order

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Characters in this entry

威: wēi · pomp, power; powerful; dominate
尊: zūn · respect, revere, venerate; honor
命: mìng · life; destiny, fate, luck; an order, instruction
賤: Look up this written character
贱: jiàn · mean, low; cheap, worthless

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

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Mandarin tones

1–1–4–4 · wei1 zun1 ming4 jian4

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