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子承父業

简子承父业 · 繁子承父業

Mandarin · pinyin zǐ chéng fù yè

(idiom) (of a son) to carry on one's father's business or profession

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Characters in this entry

子: zǐ · offspring, child; fruit, seed of; first earthly branch
承: chéng · inherit, receive; succeed
父: fù · father; Kangxi radical 88
業: Look up this written character
业: yè · profession, business; GB radical 111

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

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Mandarin tones

3–2–4–4 · zi3 cheng2 fu4 ye4

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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.

子承父業 · find source passages ↗ · 子承父业 · 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.

phrase

(of a son) to inherit his father's business or profession

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

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