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金科玉律

Mandarin · pinyin jīn kē yù lǜ

golden rule
key principle

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Characters in this entry

金: jīn · gold; metals in general; money; Kangxi radical 167
科: kē · section, department, science
玉: yù · jade, precious stone, gem
律: lǜ · statute, principle, regulation

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

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Mandarin tones

1–1–4–4 · jin1 ke1 yu4 lu:4

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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

gam1 fo1 juk6 leot6

Cantonese word readings for 金科玉律. 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) a law, discipline, norm or regulation that is considered absolute and not allowed to be disputed or challenged

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

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