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行不由徑

简行不由径 · 繁行不由徑

Mandarin · pinyin xíng bù yóu jìng

lit. never taking a short-cut (idiom); fig. upright and honest

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Characters in this entry

行: xíng · go; walk; move, travel; circulate; Kangxi radical 144
不: bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
由: yóu · cause, reason; from
徑: Look up this written character
径: jìng · narrow path; diameter; direct

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

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Mandarin tones

2–4–2–4 · xing2 bu4 you2 jing4

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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.

行不由徑 · find source passages ↗ · 行不由径 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

hang4 bat1 jau4 ging3

Cantonese word readings for 行不由徑. 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 act justly and honestly

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

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