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罰不當罪

简罚不当罪 · 繁罰不當罪

Mandarin · pinyin fá bù dāng zuì

disproportionate punishment
the punishment is harsher than the crime

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Characters in this entry

罰: Look up this written character
不: bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
當: dāng · bear, accept, undertake; just
罪: zuì · crime, sin, vice; evil; hardship
罚: fá · penalty, fine; punish, penalize
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

2–4–1–4 · fa2 bu4 dang1 zui4

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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.

罰不當罪 · find source passages ↗ · 罚不当罪 · 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

(idiomatic) the punishment exceeds the crime

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

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