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身在福中不知福

Mandarin · pinyin shēn zài fú zhōng bù zhī fú

to live in plenty without appreciating it (idiom); not to know when one is well off

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Characters in this entry

身: shēn · body; trunk, hull; Kangxi radical 158
在: zài · be at, in, on; consist in, rest
福: fú · happiness, good fortune, blessing
中: zhōng · central; center, middle; in the midst of; hit (target); attain
不: bù · no, not; un-; negative prefix
知: zhī · know, perceive, comprehend

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

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Mandarin tones

1–4–2–1–4–1–2 · shen1 zai4 fu2 zhong1 bu4 zhi1 fu2

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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.

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

san1 zoi6 fuk1 zung1 bat1 zi1 fuk1

Cantonese word readings for 身在福中不知福. 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 live in plenty without appreciating it; to be oblivious to the good life that one has (and hence be ungrateful)

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

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