一 笔 不 苟

yī bǐ bù gǒudictionary entry

lit. not even one stroke is negligent (idiom) / fig. to write characters (calligraphy) in which every stroke is placed perfectly

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-642713b9c08424cf. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

一筆不苟 一笔不苟 [yi1 bi3 bu4 gou3] /lit. not even one stroke is negligent (idiom)/fig. to write characters (calligraphy) in which every stroke is placed perfectly/

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: 一筆不苟

一
yī
one / single / a (article) / as soon as / entire / whole / all / throughout / "one" radical in Chinese characters (Kangxi radical 1) / also pr. [yāo] for greater clarity when spelling out numbers digit by digit
笔
bǐ
writing brush / writing implement (pen, pencil etc) (CL:支[zhī],枝[zhī]) / brushstroke / stroke (in painting or calligraphy) / (bound form) style of writing / literary manner / technique of brushwork / (classifier) stroke of a Chinese character / (classifier) sum of money / financial transaction / piece of business / (literary) to write (with a brush or pen)
不
bù
no / not so / (bound form) not / un-
苟
gǒu
(literary) if indeed / (bound form) careless / negligent / (bound form) temporarily
Gǒu
surname Gou

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.