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人之将死，其言也善

rén zhī jiāng sǐ , qí yán yě shàndictionary entry
DEFINITION CC-CEDICT
words of a man on his deathbed always come from the heart (proverb)
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-52929d571c13ed9d. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

人之將死，其言也善 人之将死，其言也善 [ren2 zhi1 jiang1 si3 , qi2 yan2 ye3 shan4] /words of a man on his deathbed always come from the heart (proverb)/

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: 人之將死，其言也善

  • 人
  • 之
    zhī

    (possessive particle, literary equivalent of 的[de]) / him / her / it

  • 将
    jiāng

    will / shall / to use / to take / to checkmate / just a short while ago / (introduces object of main verb, used in the same way as 把[bǎ])

    jiàng

    (bound form) a general / (literary) to command / to lead / (Chinese chess) general (on the black side, equivalent to a king in Western chess)

    qiāng

    to desire / to invite / to request

  • 死
    sǐ

    to die / impassable / uncrossable / inflexible / rigid / extremely / damned

  • 其
    qí

    his / her / its / their / that / such / it (refers to sth preceding it)

  • 言
    yán

    words / speech / to say / to talk

  • 也
    yě

    also / too / as well / (not ...) either / (used after a verbal or nominal expression X to indicate that X is an extreme or unexpected case) even (X) / (literary) particle having functions similar to 啊[a]

    Yě

    surname Ye

  • 善
    shàn

    good (virtuous) / benevolent / well-disposed / good at sth / to improve or perfect

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.