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時勢造英雄

简时势造英雄 · 繁時勢造英雄

Mandarin · pinyin shí shì zào yīng xióng

Time makes the man (idiom). The trend of events brings forth the hero.

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Characters in this entry

時: shí · time, season; era, age, period
勢: Look up this written character
造: zào · construct, build, make, begin; prepare
英: yīng · petal, flower, leaf; brave, a hero; England, English
雄: xióng · male of species; hero; manly
时: shí · time, season; era, age, period
势: shì · power, force; tendency

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

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Mandarin tones

2–4–4–1–2 · shi2 shi4 zao4 ying1 xiong2

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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.

時勢造英雄 · find source passages ↗ · 时势造英雄 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

si4 sai3 zou6 jing1 hung4

Cantonese word readings for 時勢造英雄. 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) the time creates the hero

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

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