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無功不受祿

简无功不受禄 · 繁無功不受祿

Mandarin · pinyin wú gōng bù shòu lù

Don't get a reward if it's not deserved. (idiom)

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Characters in this entry

無: Look up this written character
功: gōng · achievement, merit, good result
不: bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
受: shòu · receive, accept, get; bear, stand
祿: Look up this written character
无: wú · negative, no, not; Kangxi radical 71
禄: lù · blessing, happiness, prosperity

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

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Mandarin tones

2–1–4–4–4 · wu2 gong1 bu4 shou4 lu4

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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.

無功不受祿 · find source passages ↗ · 无功不受禄 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

mou4 gung1 bat1 sau6 luk6

Cantonese word readings for 無功不受祿. 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 refuse to accept an undeserved reward

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

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