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除暴安良

Mandarin · pinyin chú bào ān liáng

to root out the strong and give people peace (idiom); to rob the rich and give to the poor

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Characters in this entry

除: chú · eliminate, remove, except
暴: bào · violent, brutal, tyrannical
安: ān · peaceful, tranquil, quiet
良: liáng · good, virtuous, respectable

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Mandarin tones

2–4–1–2 · chu2 bao4 an1 liang2

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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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Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

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

phrase

(idiomatic) to eliminate the violent criminals and comfort the law-abiding mass

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

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