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背信棄義

简背信弃义 · 繁背信棄義

Mandarin · pinyin bèi xìn qì yì

breaking faith and abandoning right (idiom); to betray
treachery
perfidy

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Characters in this entry

背: bèi · back; back side; behind; betray
信: xìn · trust, believe; letter
棄: Look up this written character
義: Look up this written character
弃: qì · reject, abandon, discard
义: yì · right conduct, righteousness

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

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Mandarin tones

4–4–4–4 · bei4 xin4 qi4 yi4

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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.

背信棄義 · find source passages ↗ · 背信弃义 · find source passages ↗

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Rime Cantonese 粵拼

bui3 seon3 hei3 ji6

Cantonese word readings for 背信棄義. 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 break the faith and disregard righteousness; to act perfidiously; perfidious, treacherous; treachery, perfidy

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

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