DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

明哲保身

Mandarin · pinyin míng zhé bǎo shēn

a wise man looks after his own hide (idiom)
to put one's own safety before matters of principle

Full entryShow on map

Characters in this entry

明: míng · bright, light, brilliant; clear
哲: zhé · wise, sagacious; wise man, sage
保: bǎo · protect, safeguard, defend, care
身: shēn · body; trunk, hull; Kangxi radical 158

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

Explore the spelling

Mandarin tones

2–2–3–1 · ming2 zhe2 bao3 shen1

Compare attested words with these syllables ↗

Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.

Connected dictionary

4character links

Explore word families ↗Compare pronunciations ↗Open character structure ↗

Counts describe dictionary records, not word frequency or semantic similarity. Source identities stay separate.

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.

明哲保身 · find source passages ↗

Explore Classical grammar ↗

Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 2 senses · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

ming4 zit3 bou2 san1

Cantonese word readings for 明哲保身. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

CanCLID contributors · CC BY 4.0 · source & license · Data pack

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

phrase

(idiomatic) to protect or defend oneself with wisdom and sound judgement
(idiomatic) to protect oneself above all other considerations; to place one's own interests at the foremost

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

Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack