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道不拾遗

dào bù shí yídictionary entry
DEFINITION CC-CEDICT
lit. no one picks up lost articles in the street (idiom) / fig. honesty prevails throughout society
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-2332973f1fb47a48. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

道不拾遺 道不拾遗 [dao4 bu4 shi2 yi2] /lit. no one picks up lost articles in the street (idiom)/fig. honesty prevails throughout society/

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: 道不拾遺

  • 道
    dào

    road / path (CL:條|条[tiáo],股[gǔ]) / (bound form) way / reason / principle / (bound form) a skill / an art / a specialization / (Daoism) the Way / the Dao / to say (introducing a direct quotation, as in a novel) / (bound form) to express / to extend (polite words) / classifier for long thin things (rivers, cracks, shadows etc), barriers (walls, doors etc), questions (in an exam etc), commands, courses in a meal, steps in a process / (old) circuit (administrative division)

  • 不
    bù

    no / not so / (bound form) not / un-

  • 拾
    shè

    to ascend in light steps

    shí

    to pick up / to collate or arrange / ten (banker's anti-fraud numeral)

  • 遗
    yí

    (bound form) to leave behind

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.