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死於非命

简死于非命 · 繁死於非命

Mandarin · pinyin sǐ yú fēi mìng

violent death (idiom); to die in a disaster
an unnatural death

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Characters in this entry

死: sǐ · die; dead; death
於: yú · yū · in, at, on; interjection alas!
非: fēi · not, negative, non-; oppose; Kangxi radical 175
命: mìng · life; destiny, fate, luck; an order, instruction
于: yú · in, on, at; go to; surname

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

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Mandarin tones

3–2–1–4 · si3 yu2 fei1 ming4

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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.

死於非命 · find source passages ↗ · 死于非命 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

sei2 jyu1 fei1 meng6

Cantonese word readings for 死於非命. 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 die unnaturally; to die of accidents, murder or suicide

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

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