DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

窮當益堅

简穷当益坚 · 繁窮當益堅

Mandarin · pinyin qióng dāng yì jiān

poor but ambitious (idiom); hard-pressed but determined
the worse one's position, the harder one must fight back

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Characters in this entry

窮: Look up this written character
當: dāng · bear, accept, undertake; just
益: yì · profit, benefit; advantage; hexagram ䷩
堅: Look up this written character
穷: qióng · poor, destitute, impoverished
当: dāng · bear, accept, undertake; just
坚: jiān · hard, strong, firm; resolute

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

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Mandarin tones

2–1–4–1 · qiong2 dang1 yi4 jian1

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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.

窮當益堅 · find source passages ↗ · 穷当益坚 · find source passages ↗

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