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朝不保夕

Mandarin · pinyin zhāo bù bǎo xī

at dawn, not sure of lasting to evening (idiom); precarious state
imminent crisis
living from hand to mouth

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Characters in this entry

朝: cháo · dynasty; morning
不: bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
保: bǎo · protect, safeguard, defend, care
夕: xī · evening, night, dusk; slanted

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

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Mandarin tones

1–4–3–1 · zhao1 bu4 bao3 xi1

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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.

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Rime Cantonese 粵拼

ziu1 bat1 bou2 zik6

Cantonese word readings for 朝不保夕. 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 be in a critical and desperate situation; to be on the verge of death (or collapse, defeat, etc.)

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

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