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死而後已

简死而后已 · 繁死而後已

Mandarin · pinyin sǐ ér hòu yǐ

until death puts an end (idiom); one's whole life
unto one's dying day

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Characters in this entry

死: sǐ · die; dead; death
而: ér · and; and then; and yet; but; Kangxi radical 126
後: hòu · behind, rear, after; descendents
已: yǐ · already; finished; stop
后: hòu · queen, empress, sovereign; (simp. for 後) behind, rear, after

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Mandarin tones

3–2–4–3 · si3 er2 hou4 yi3

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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.

死而後已 · find source passages ↗ · 死而后已 · find source passages ↗

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Rime Cantonese 粵拼

sei2 ji4 hau6 ji5

Cantonese word readings for 死而後已. 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) until one's dying day; not giving up until death

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

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