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後來者居上

简后来者居上 · 繁後來者居上

Mandarin · pinyin hòu lái zhě jū shàng

the latecomers surpass their predecessors

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Characters in this entry

後: hòu · behind, rear, after; descendents
來: lái · come, coming; return, returning
者: zhě · that which; he who; those who
居: jū · live, dwell, reside, sit
上: shàng · top; superior, highest; go up, send up
后: hòu · queen, empress, sovereign; (simp. for 後) behind, rear, after
来: lái · come, coming; return, returning

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

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Mandarin tones

4–2–3–1–4 · hou4 lai2 zhe3 ju1 shang4

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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.

後來者居上 · find source passages ↗ · 后来者居上 · find source passages ↗

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