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擁兵自重

简拥兵自重 · 繁擁兵自重

Mandarin · pinyin yōng bīng zì zhòng

(of a warlord etc) to assemble one's personal army, thereby presenting a challenge to the central government

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Characters in this entry

擁: Look up this written character
兵: bīng · soldier, troops
自: zì · self, private, personal; from; Kangxi radical 132
重: zhòng · heavy, weighty; double
拥: yōng · embrace, hug, squeeze; crowd

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

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Mandarin tones

1–1–4–4 · yong1 bing1 zi4 zhong4

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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.

擁兵自重 · find source passages ↗ · 拥兵自重 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

jung2 bing1 zi6 zung6

Cantonese word readings for 擁兵自重. 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 control a sizable army and defy orders from higher or central authorities

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

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