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心慈手軟

简心慈手软 · 繁心慈手軟

Mandarin · pinyin xīn cí shǒu ruǎn

(idiom) softhearted; merciful

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Characters in this entry

心: xīn · heart; mind, intelligence; soul; 5th lunar mansion, determinative star α Scorpii (Antares)
慈: cí · kind, charitable, benevolent
手: shǒu · hand
軟: Look up this written character
软: ruǎn · soft, flexible, pliable; weak

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

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Mandarin tones

1–2–3–3 · xin1 ci2 shou3 ruan3

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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.

心慈手軟 · find source passages ↗ · 心慈手软 · find source passages ↗

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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 be softhearted

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

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