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生死存亡

Mandarin · pinyin shēng sǐ cún wáng

matter of life and death

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Characters in this entry

生: shēng · life, living, lifetime; birth
死: sǐ · die; dead; death
存: cún · exist, live, be; survive; remain
亡: wáng · death, destroyed; lose, perish

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Mandarin tones

1–3–2–2 · sheng1 si3 cun2 wang2

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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.

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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) life or death; survival or extinction
(idiomatic) matter of life and death; critical moment

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

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