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貧賤不能移

简贫贱不能移 · 繁貧賤不能移

Mandarin · pinyin pín jiàn bù néng yí

not shaken by poverty
to preserve one's ambitions although destitute

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Characters in this entry

貧: Look up this written character
賤: Look up this written character
不: bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
能: néng · to be able; can, permitted to; ability
移: yí · change place, shift; move about
贫: pín · poor, impoverished, needy
贱: jiàn · mean, low; cheap, worthless

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

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Mandarin tones

2–4–4–2–2 · pin2 jian4 bu4 neng2 yi2

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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.

貧賤不能移 · find source passages ↗ · 贫贱不能移 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 2 senses · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

pan4 zin6 bat1 nang4 ji4

Cantonese word readings for 貧賤不能移. 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

to remain morally upright even when destitute

proverb

(neologism) Poor people lack the chance to emigrate, thus suffer from the social problems in their home country more than rich people.

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

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