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君子之交

jūn zǐ zhī jiāodictionary entry
DEFINITION CC-CEDICT
friendship between gentlemen, insipid as water (idiom, from Zhuangzi 莊子|庄子[Zhuāng zǐ])
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-97a8508b65caab66. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

君子之交 君子之交 [jun1 zi3 zhi1 jiao1] /friendship between gentlemen, insipid as water (idiom, from Zhuangzi 莊子|庄子[Zhuang1 zi3])/

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.

  • 君
    jūn

    monarch / lord / gentleman / ruler

  • 子
    zǐ

    son / child / seed / egg / small thing / 1st earthly branch: 11 p.m.–1 a.m., midnight, 11th solar month (7th December to 5th January), year of the rat / viscount, fourth of five orders of nobility 五等爵位[wǔ děng jué wèi] / ancient Chinese compass point: 0° (north) / subsidiary / subordinate / (prefix) sub-

    zi

    noun suffix, as in 椅子[yǐ zi] "chair"

  • 之
    zhī

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

  • 交
    jiāo

    to hand over / to deliver / to pay (money) / to turn over / to make friends / (of lines) to intersect

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.