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爭面子

简争面子 · 繁爭面子

Mandarin · pinyin zhēng miàn zi

to do (sb) proud; to be a credit to (one's school etc)
to make oneself look good; to build up one's image

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Characters in this entry

爭: Look up this written character
面: miàn · face; surface; plane; side, dimension; Kangxi radical 176
子: zǐ · offspring, child; fruit, seed of; first earthly branch
争: zhēng · dispute, fight, contend, strive

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

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Mandarin tones

1–4–5 · zheng1 mian4 zi5

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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.

爭面子 · find source passages ↗ · 争面子 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

zang1 min6 zi2

Cantonese word readings for 爭面子. 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.

verb

to fight for a good reputation; to try to win honour

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

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