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自得

Mandarin · pinyin zì dé

contented
pleased with one's position

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Characters in this entry

自: zì · self, private, personal; from; Kangxi radical 132
得: dé · obtain, get, gain, acquire

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

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Mandarin tones

4–2 · zi4 de2

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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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Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

verb

to feel contented; to be pleased with one's position
(literary) to come to a realization of one's own accord

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

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