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當家作主

简当家作主 · 繁當家作主

Mandarin · pinyin dāng jiā zuò zhǔ

to be in charge in one's own house (idiom)
to be the master of one's own affairs

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Characters in this entry

當: dāng · bear, accept, undertake; just
家: jiā · house, home, residence; family
作: zuò · make; work; compose, write; act, perform
主: zhǔ · master, chief owner; host; lord
当: dāng · bear, accept, undertake; just

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

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Mandarin tones

1–1–4–3 · dang1 jia1 zuo4 zhu3

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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.

當家作主 · find source passages ↗ · 当家作主 · find source passages ↗

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Rime Cantonese 粵拼

dong1 gaa1 zok3 zyu2

Cantonese word readings for 當家作主. 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 be in power of one's house
(figuratively) to be the master of one's own affairs; destiny; etc.

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

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