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身體是革命的本錢

简身体是革命的本钱 · 繁身體是革命的本錢

Mandarin · pinyin shēn tǐ shì gé mìng de běn qián

lit. the body is the revolution's capital
fig. good health is a prerequisite for work (Mao Zedong's saying)

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Characters in this entry

身: shēn · body; trunk, hull; Kangxi radical 158
體: tǐ · body; group, class, body, unit
是: shì · indeed, yes, right; to be; demonstrative pronoun, this, that
革: gé · leather, animal hides; Kangxi radical 177; hexagram ䷰
命: mìng · life; destiny, fate, luck; an order, instruction
的: de · possessive, adjectival suffix
本: běn · root, origin, source; basis
錢: Look up this written character
体: tǐ · body; group, class, body, unit; inferior
钱: qián · money, currency, coins

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

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Mandarin tones

1–3–4–2–4–5–3–2 · shen1 ti3 shi4 ge2 ming4 de5 ben3 qian2

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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.

身體是革命的本錢 · find source passages ↗ · 身体是革命的本钱 · find source passages ↗

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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) Good health is a prerequisite for work.

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

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