不 怕 官，只 怕 管

bù pà guān , zhǐ pà guǎndictionary entry

lit. it is not an official to be feared, but a person in direct control over sb (proverb) / fig. to be obliged to comply with people in authority

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-9420d11b349accc8. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

不怕官，只怕管 不怕官，只怕管 [bu4 pa4 guan1 , zhi3 pa4 guan3] /lit. it is not an official to be feared, but a person in direct control over sb (proverb)/fig. to be obliged to comply with people in authority/

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.

不
bù
no / not so / (bound form) not / un-
怕
pà
to be afraid / to fear / to dread / to be unable to endure / perhaps
Pà
surname Pa
官
guān
government official / governmental / official / public / organ of the body / CL:個|个[gè]
Guān
surname Guan
只
zhī
grain that has begun to ripen / classifier for birds and certain animals, one of a pair, some utensils, vessels etc
zhǐ
only / merely / just
怕
pà
to be afraid / to fear / to dread / to be unable to endure / perhaps
Pà
surname Pa
管
guǎn
to take care (of) / to control / to manage / to be in charge of / to look after / to run / to care about / tube / pipe / woodwind / classifier for tube-shaped objects / particle similar to 把[bǎ] in 管...叫 constructions / writing brush / (coll.) to / towards
Guǎn
surname Guan

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.