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袖手旁觀

简袖手旁观 · 繁袖手旁觀

Mandarin · pinyin xiù shǒu páng guān

to watch with folded arms (idiom); to look on without lifting a finger

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Characters in this entry

袖: xiù · sleeve; put something in sleeve
手: shǒu · hand
旁: páng · side; by side, close by, near
觀: Look up this written character
观: guān · see, observe, view; appearance

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

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Mandarin tones

4–3–2–1 · xiu4 shou3 pang2 guan1

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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.

袖手旁觀 · find source passages ↗ · 袖手旁观 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

zau6 sau2 pong4 gun1

Cantonese word readings for 袖手旁觀. 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 put one's hands into one's sleeves and look on; to observe and do nothing; to stand by; to become a passive observer

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

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