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臨危受命

简临危受命 · 繁臨危受命

Mandarin · pinyin lín wēi shòu mìng

(idiom) to take on a leadership role at a time of crisis

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Characters in this entry

臨: Look up this written character
危: wēi · dangerous, precarious; high; 12th lunar mansion, determinative star α Aquarii (Sadalmelik)
受: shòu · receive, accept, get; bear, stand
命: mìng · life; destiny, fate, luck; an order, instruction
临: lín · draw near, approach; descend

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

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Mandarin tones

2–1–4–4 · lin2 wei1 shou4 ming4

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4character links1same-tone record

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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.

臨危受命 · find source passages ↗ · 临危受命 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

lam4 ngai4 sau6 ming6

Cantonese word readings for 臨危受命. 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 take on a challenging mission at a critical moment

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

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