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過河拆橋

简过河拆桥 · 繁過河拆橋

Mandarin · pinyin guò hé chāi qiáo

(lit.) to destroy the bridge after crossing the river (idiom)
(fig.) to abandon one's benefactor upon achieving one's goal

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Characters in this entry

過: guò · pass, pass through, go across
河: hé · river; stream; the Yellow River
拆: chāi · to break up, split apart, rip open; to destroy
橋: qiáo · bridge; beam, crosspiece
过: guò · pass, pass through, go across
桥: qiáo · bridge; beam, crosspiece

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

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Mandarin tones

4–2–1–2 · guo4 he2 chai1 qiao2

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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.

過河拆橋 · find source passages ↗ · 过河拆桥 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

gwo3 ho4 caak3 kiu4

Cantonese word readings for 過河拆橋. 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 burn one's bridges; to abandon one's benefactor upon achieving one's goal

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

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