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慢工出細貨

简慢工出细货 · 繁慢工出細貨

Mandarin · pinyin màn gōng chū xì huò

patient work makes a fine product

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Characters in this entry

慢: màn · slow(ly), leisurely, sluggish
工: gōng · labor, work; worker, laborer
出: chū · go out, send out; stand; produce
細: xì · fine, tiny; slender, thin
貨: Look up this written character
细: xì · fine, tiny; slender, thin
货: huò · goods, commodities, products

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

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Mandarin tones

4–1–1–4–4 · man4 gong1 chu1 xi4 huo4

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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.

慢工出細貨 · find source passages ↗ · 慢工出细货 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

maan6 gung1 ceot1 sai3 fo3

Cantonese word readings for 慢工出細貨. 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.

proverb

slow and meticulous work leads to fine quality; soft fire makes sweet malt; slow and steady wins the race

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

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