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士农工商

shì nóng gōng shāngdictionary entry
DEFINITION CC-CEDICT
(idiom) "the four classes" of ancient China, i.e. scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants
Sources & editorial notes

Reference definitions: CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG, CC BY-SA 4.0. Source release 2026-10-27T01:55:52Z. Imported 2026-10-27. Definition wording and meaning order are retained. Recognized pronunciation references are displayed with tone marks; the original source record is available below.

Source record: cd-1cc98a6bd1792448. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

士農工商 士农工商 [shi4 nong2 gong1 shang1] /(idiom) "the four classes" of ancient China, i.e. scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants/

Reference definitions and teaching material have separate provenance.

Reference information

The definitions above are from CC-CEDICT. Examples and usage notes are available on selected entries.

Character information

View the individual characters. Their meanings do not necessarily explain the meaning of the whole word.

Other forms in these source records: 士農工商

  • 士
    shì

    member of the senior ministerial class (old) / scholar (old) / bachelor / honorific / soldier / noncommissioned officer / specialist worker

    Shì

    surname Shi

  • 农
    nóng

    (bound form) agriculture

    Nóng

    surname Nong

  • 工
    gōng

    work / worker / skill / profession / trade / craft / labor

  • 商
    shāng

    commerce / merchant / dealer / to consult / 2nd note in pentatonic scale / quotient (as in 智商[zhì shāng], intelligence quotient)

    Shāng

    Shang Dynasty (c. 1600–1046 BC) / surname Shang

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.