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自立門戶

简自立门户 · 繁自立門戶

Mandarin · pinyin zì lì mén hù

to form one's own group or school of thought
to set up one's own business
to establish oneself

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Characters in this entry

自: zì · self, private, personal; from; Kangxi radical 132
立: lì · stand; let stand; establish, set
門: mén · gate, door, entrance, opening; Kangxi radical 169
戶: Look up this written character
门: mén · gate, door, entrance, opening
户: hù · door; family

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

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Mandarin tones

4–4–2–4 · zi4 li4 men2 hu4

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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.

自立門戶 · find source passages ↗ · 自立门户 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

zi6 laap6 mun4 wu6

Cantonese word readings for 自立門戶. 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 establish one's own group, school of thought, business, etc.; to strike out on one's own

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

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