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江山易改禀性难移

jiāng shān yì gǎi bǐng xìng nán yídictionary entry
DEFINITION CC-CEDICT
rivers and mountains are easy to change, man's character much harder
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-6717c46b130418ff. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

江山易改稟性難移 江山易改禀性难移 [jiang1 shan1 yi4 gai3 bing3 xing4 nan2 yi2] /rivers and mountains are easy to change, man's character much harder/

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: 江山易改稟性難移

  • 江
    Jiāng

    surname Jiang / (bound form) Yangtze River / (bound form) Jiangsu Province (abbr. for 江蘇|江苏[Jiāng sū])

  • 山
    shān

    mountain / hill (CL:座[zuò]) / (coll.) small bundle of straw for silkworms to spin cocoons on

    Shān

    surname Shan

  • 易
    yì

    easy / amiable / to change / to exchange / prefix corresponding to the English adjective suffix "-able" or "-ible"

    Yì

    surname Yi / I Ching / Book of Changes (abbr. for 易經|易经[Yì jīng])

  • 改
    gǎi

    to change / to alter / to transform / to correct

  • 禀
    bǐng

    to make a report (to a superior) / to give / to endow / to receive / petition

  • 性
    xìng

    nature / character / property / quality / attribute / sexuality / sex / gender / suffix forming adjective from verb / suffix forming noun from adjective, corresponding to -ness or -ity / essence / CL:個|个[gè]

  • 难
    nán

    difficult (to...) / problem / difficulty / difficult / not good

    nàn

    disaster / distress / to scold

  • 移
    yí

    to move / to shift / to change / to alter / to remove

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.