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用心良苦

Mandarin · pinyin yòng xīn liáng kǔ

to ponder earnestly
to give a lot of thought to sth

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Characters in this entry

用: yòng · use, employ, apply, operate; use
心: xīn · heart; mind, intelligence; soul; 5th lunar mansion, determinative star α Scorpii (Antares)
良: liáng · good, virtuous, respectable
苦: kǔ · bitter; hardship, suffering

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

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Mandarin tones

4–1–2–3 · yong4 xin1 liang2 ku3

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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 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

jung6 sam1 loeng4 fu2

Cantonese word readings for 用心良苦. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

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