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徒勞無功

简徒劳无功 · 繁徒勞無功

Mandarin · pinyin tú láo wú gōng

to work to no avail (idiom)

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Characters in this entry

徒: tú · disciple, follower; go on foot
勞: Look up this written character
無: Look up this written character
功: gōng · achievement, merit, good result
劳: láo · labor, toil, do manual work
无: wú · negative, no, not; Kangxi radical 71

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

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Mandarin tones

2–2–2–1 · tu2 lao2 wu2 gong1

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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.

徒勞無功 · find source passages ↗ · 徒劳无功 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

tou4 lou4 mou4 gung1

Cantonese word readings for 徒勞無功. 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 make a futile effort; to work fruitlessly

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

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