DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT
寧為玉碎,不為瓦全
简 宁为玉碎,不为瓦全 · 繁 寧為玉碎,不為瓦全Mandarin · pinyin nìng wéi yù suì , bù wéi wǎ quán
Meanings
- Better broken jade than intact tile.
- Death is preferable to dishonor. (idiom)
Characters in this entry
- 寧
- Look up this written character
- 為
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- 玉
- yù · jade, precious stone, gem
- 碎
- suì · break, smash; broken, busted
- 不
- bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
- 瓦
- wǎ · tile; earthenware pottery; girl
- 全
- quán · maintain, keep whole or intact
- 宁
- níng · calm, peaceful, serene; healthy
- 为
- wèi · do, handle, govern, act; be
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Counts describe dictionary records, not word frequency or semantic similarity. Source identities stay separate.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.
寧為玉碎,不為瓦全 · find source passages ↗ · 宁为玉碎,不为瓦全 · find source passages ↗