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聽天由命

简听天由命 · 繁聽天由命

Mandarin · pinyin tīng tiān yóu mìng

(idiom) to submit to the will of heaven; to resign oneself to fate; to trust to luck

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Characters in this entry

聽: tīng · hear, listen; understand; obey
天: tiān · sky, heaven; god, celestial
由: yóu · cause, reason; from
命: mìng · life; destiny, fate, luck; an order, instruction
听: tīng · hear; understand; obey, comply

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

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Mandarin tones

1–1–2–4 · ting1 tian1 you2 ming4

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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.

聽天由命 · find source passages ↗ · 听天由命 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

ting3 tin1 jau4 ming6

Cantonese word readings for 聽天由命. 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 resign oneself to fate; to be reconciled to one's lot

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

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