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重男輕女

简重男轻女 · 繁重男輕女

Mandarin · pinyin zhòng nán qīng nǚ

to value males and attach less importance to females (idiom)

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Characters in this entry

重: zhòng · heavy, weighty; double
男: nán · male, man; son; baron; surname
輕: qīng · light; easy, simple; gentle
女: nǚ · woman, girl; feminine; Kangxi radical 38; 10th lunar mansion, determinative star ε Aquarii (Albali)
轻: qīng · light; easy, simple; gentle

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

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Mandarin tones

4–2–1–3 · zhong4 nan2 qing1 nu:3

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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.

重男輕女 · find source passages ↗ · 重男轻女 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

zung6 naam4 hing1 neoi5

Cantonese word readings for 重男輕女. 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) valuing men and belittling women; favouring boys over girls

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

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