自成一家

Mandarin · pinyin zì chéng yī jiā

Meanings

  1. to have a style of one's own
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Characters in this entry

自
zì · self, private, personal; from; Kangxi radical 132
成
chéng · completed, finished, fixed
一
yī · one; a, an; alone
家
jiā · house, home, residence; family
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

4–2–1–1 · zi4 cheng2 yi1 jia1

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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.

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

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

phrase

  1. (academics, art, literature) a unique or original style or perspective

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

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