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陟罰臧否

简陟罚臧否 · 繁陟罰臧否

Mandarin · pinyin zhì fá zāng pǐ

(idiom) to evaluate the merits and demerits of; (esp. in formal, ethical or societal contexts) to critique; to judge

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Characters in this entry

陟: zhì · climb, scale, ascend; proceed
罰: Look up this written character
臧: zāng · good, right, generous; command
否: fǒu · not, no, negative; final particle; hexagram ䷋
罚: fá · penalty, fine; punish, penalize

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

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Mandarin tones

4–2–1–3 · zhi4 fa2 zang1 pi3

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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.

陟罰臧否 · find source passages ↗ · 陟罚臧否 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

phrase

(idiomatic) to reward good people and to punish bad people

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

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