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早知今日何必當初

简早知今日何必当初 · 繁早知今日何必當初

Mandarin · pinyin zǎo zhī jīn rì hé bì dāng chū

if I (you, she, he...) had known it would come to this, I (you, she, he...) would not have acted thus (idiom)
to regret vainly one's past behavior

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Characters in this entry

早: zǎo · early; soon; morning
知: zhī · know, perceive, comprehend
今: jīn · now, today, modern era
日: rì · sun; day; daytime
何: hé · what, why, where, which, how
必: bì · surely, most certainly; must
當: dāng · bear, accept, undertake; just
初: chū · beginning, initial, primary
当: dāng · bear, accept, undertake; just

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

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Mandarin tones

3–1–1–4–2–4–1–1 · zao3 zhi1 jin1 ri4 he2 bi4 dang1 chu1

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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.

早知今日何必當初 · find source passages ↗ · 早知今日何必当初 · find source passages ↗

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