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竭澤而漁

简竭泽而渔 · 繁竭澤而漁

Mandarin · pinyin jié zé ér yú

lit. to drain the pond to get at the fish (idiom)
fig. to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs

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Characters in this entry

竭: jié · put forth great effort; exhaust
澤: Look up this written character
而: ér · and; and then; and yet; but; Kangxi radical 126
漁: Look up this written character
泽: zé · marsh, swamp; grace, brilliance
渔: yú · to fish; seize; pursue; surname

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

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Mandarin tones

2–2–2–2 · jie2 ze2 er2 yu2

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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.

竭澤而漁 · find source passages ↗ · 竭泽而渔 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

kit3 zaak6 ji4 jyu4

Cantonese word readings for 竭澤而漁. 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 kill the goose that lays the golden egg; to extract everything available at the moment at the sacrifice of long-term benefits

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

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