DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

有則改之，無則加勉

简有则改之，无则加勉 · 繁有則改之，無則加勉

Mandarin · pinyin yǒu zé gǎi zhī , wú zé jiā miǎn

correct any mistakes you made, but maintain your good record if you did not make them (idiom)

Full entryShow on map

Characters in this entry

有: yǒu · have, own, possess; exist
則: Look up this written character
改: gǎi · change, alter; improve, remodel
之: zhī · marks preceding phrase as modifier of following phrase; it, him her, them; go to
無: Look up this written character
加: jiā · add to, increase, augment
勉: miǎn · endeavor, make effort; urge
则: zé · rule, law, regulation; grades
无: wú · negative, no, not; Kangxi radical 71

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

Explore the spelling

Connected dictionary

7character 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.

有則改之，無則加勉 · find source passages ↗ · 有则改之，无则加勉 · find source passages ↗

Explore Classical grammar ↗