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富不過三代

简富不过三代 · 繁富不過三代

Mandarin · pinyin fù bù guò sān dài

wealth never survives three generations (idiom)

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Characters in this entry

富: fù · abundant, ample; rich, wealthy
不: bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
過: guò · pass, pass through, go across
三: sān · three
代: dài · replace, replacement (of person or generation); era, generation
过: guò · pass, pass through, go across

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

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Mandarin tones

4–4–4–1–4 · fu4 bu4 guo4 san1 dai4

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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.

富不過三代 · find source passages ↗ · 富不过三代 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

fu3 bat1 gwo3 saam1 doi6

Cantonese word readings for 富不過三代. 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

clogs to clogs in three generations; wealth does not last beyond three generations

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

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