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当官不为民做主不如回家卖红薯

dāng guān bù wèi mín zuò zhǔ bù rú huí jiā mài hóng shǔdictionary entry
DEFINITION CC-CEDICT
if an official does not put the people first, he might as well go home and sell sweet potatoes
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-8308347d3fd6f8e6. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

當官不為民做主不如回家賣紅薯 当官不为民做主不如回家卖红薯 [dang1 guan1 bu4 wei4 min2 zuo4 zhu3 bu4 ru2 hui2 jia1 mai4 hong2 shu3] /if an official does not put the people first, he might as well go home and sell sweet potatoes/

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: 當官不為民做主不如回家賣紅薯

  • 当
    dāng

    (onom.) dong / ding dong (bell) / to be / to act as / manage / withstand / when / during / ought / should / match equally / equal / same / obstruct / just at (a time or place) / on the spot / right / just at

    dàng

    at or in the very same... / suitable / adequate / fitting / proper / to replace / to regard as / to think / to pawn / (coll.) to fail (a student)

  • 官
    guān

    government official / governmental / official / public / organ of the body / CL:個|个[gè]

    Guān

    surname Guan

  • 不
    bù

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

  • 为
    wéi

    as (in the capacity of) / to take sth as / to act as / to serve as / to behave as / to become / to be / to do / by (in the passive voice)

    wèi

    because of / for / to

  • 民
    mín

    (bound form) the people / inhabitants of a country

    Mín

    surname Min

  • 做
    zuò

    to make / to produce / to write / to compose / to do / to engage in / to hold (a party etc) / (of a person) to be (an intermediary, a good student etc) / to become (husband and wife, friends etc) / (of a thing) to serve as / to be used for / to assume (an air or manner)

  • 主
    zhǔ

    owner / master / host / individual or party concerned / God / Lord / main / to indicate or signify / trump card (in card games)

  • 不
    bù

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

  • 如
    rú

    as / as if / such as

  • 回
    huí

    to go back / to return / to turn back / to turn around / to reply / to answer / classifier for literary divisions (acts of a play, sections or chapters of a classic book) / classifier for occurrences or times / to curve / to return / to revolve

    Huí

    Hui ethnic group (Chinese Muslims)

  • 家
    jiā

    used in 傢伙|家伙[jiā huo] and 傢俱|家俱[jiā jù] / home / family / (polite) my (sister, uncle etc) / classifier for families or businesses / refers to the philosophical schools of pre-Han China / noun suffix for a specialist in some activity, such as a musician or revolutionary, corresponding to English -ist, -er, -ary or -ian / CL:個|个[gè]

  • 卖
    mài

    to sell / to betray / to spare no effort / to show off or flaunt

  • 红
    gōng

    used in 女紅|女红[nu : 3 gong1]

    hóng

    red / popular / revolutionary / bonus

    Hóng

    surname Hong

  • 薯
    shǔ

    potato / yam

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.