DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

身不由主

Mandarin · pinyin shēn bù yóu zhǔ

see 身不由己 shēn bù yóu jǐ

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Characters in this entry

身: shēn · body; trunk, hull; Kangxi radical 158
不: bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
由: yóu · cause, reason; from
主: zhǔ · master, chief owner; host; lord

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

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Mandarin tones

1–4–2–3 · shen1 bu4 you2 zhu3

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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.

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