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自身難保

简自身难保 · 繁自身難保

Mandarin · pinyin zì shēn nán bǎo

powerless to defend oneself (idiom); helpless

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Characters in this entry

自: zì · self, private, personal; from; Kangxi radical 132
身: shēn · body; trunk, hull; Kangxi radical 158
難: Look up this written character
保: bǎo · protect, safeguard, defend, care
难: nán · difficult, arduous, hard; unable

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

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Mandarin tones

4–1–2–3 · zi4 shen1 nan2 bao3

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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.

自身難保 · find source passages ↗ · 自身难保 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

zi6 san1 naan4 bou2

Cantonese word readings for 自身難保. 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 be in trouble oneself (implying someone is thus unable to help others)

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

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