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忍辱偷生

Mandarin · pinyin rěn rǔ tōu shēng

to bear humiliation to save one's skin (idiom)

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Characters in this entry

忍: rěn · endure, bear, suffer; forbear
辱: rǔ · humiliate, insult, abuse
偷: tōu · to steal, burglar, thief
生: shēng · life, living, lifetime; birth

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Mandarin tones

3–3–1–1 · ren3 ru3 tou1 sheng1

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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.

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

jan2 juk6 tau1 sang1

Cantonese word readings for 忍辱偷生. 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 endure humiliation in order to remain alive

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

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