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守望相助

Mandarin · pinyin shǒu wàng xiāng zhù

to keep watch and defend one another (idiom, from Mencius); to join forces to defend against external aggressors
mutual help and protection

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Characters in this entry

守: shǒu · defend, protect, guard, conserve
望: wàng · to look at, look forward; to hope, expect
相: xiāng · mutual, reciprocal, each other
助: zhù · help, aid, assist

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

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Mandarin tones

3–4–1–4 · shou3 wang4 xiang1 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

sau2 mong6 soeng1 zo6

Cantonese word readings for 守望相助. 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) to keep watch and defend and help one another

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

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