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禮賢下士

简礼贤下士 · 繁禮賢下士

Mandarin · pinyin lǐ xián xià shì

respect for the wise

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Characters in this entry

禮: lǐ · social custom; manners; courtesy; rites
賢: Look up this written character
下: xià · under, underneath, below; down; inferior; bring down
士: shì · scholar, gentleman; soldier
礼: lǐ · social custom; manners; courtesy; rites
贤: xián · virtuous, worthy, good; able

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

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Mandarin tones

3–2–4–4 · li3 xian2 xia4 shi4

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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.

禮賢下士 · find source passages ↗ · 礼贤下士 · find source passages ↗

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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

(of a ruler, etc.) to treat people of talent and virtue with courtesy and respect

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

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