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於心不忍

简于心不忍 · 繁於心不忍

Mandarin · pinyin yú xīn bù rěn

can't bear to

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Characters in this entry

於: yú · yū · in, at, on; interjection alas!
心: xīn · heart; mind, intelligence; soul; 5th lunar mansion, determinative star α Scorpii (Antares)
不: bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
忍: rěn · endure, bear, suffer; forbear
于: yú · in, on, at; go to; surname

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

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Mandarin tones

2–1–4–3 · yu2 xin1 bu4 ren3

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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.

於心不忍 · find source passages ↗ · 于心不忍 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

jyu1 sam1 bat1 jan2

Cantonese word readings for 於心不忍. 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 not have the heart to do something

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

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