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父慈子孝

Mandarin · pinyin fù cí zǐ xiào

benevolent father, filial son (idiom)
natural love between parents and children

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Characters in this entry

父: fù · father; Kangxi radical 88
慈: cí · kind, charitable, benevolent
子: zǐ · offspring, child; fruit, seed of; first earthly branch
孝: xiào · filial piety, obedience; mourning

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

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Mandarin tones

4–2–3–4 · fu4 ci2 zi3 xiao4

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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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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 2 senses

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

phrase

(idiomatic) the father is loving towards his children and the children show filial piety towards their father
(sarcastic, neologism) the father and child are engaging in family quarrel either verbally, financially or physically.

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

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