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聽其言而觀其行

简听其言而观其行 · 繁聽其言而觀其行

Mandarin · pinyin tīng qí yán ér guān qí xíng

hear what he says and observe what he does (idiom, from Analects); judge a person not by his words, but by his actions

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Characters in this entry

聽: tīng · hear, listen; understand; obey
其: qí · his, her, its, their; that
言: yán · words, speech; speak, say; Kangxi radical 149
而: ér · and; and then; and yet; but; Kangxi radical 126
觀: Look up this written character
行: xíng · go; walk; move, travel; circulate; Kangxi radical 144
听: tīng · hear; understand; obey, comply
观: guān · see, observe, view; appearance

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

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Mandarin tones

1–2–2–2–1–2–2 · ting1 qi2 yan2 er2 guan1 qi2 xing2

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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.

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