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早知今日何必当初

zǎo zhī jīn rì hé bì dāng chūdictionary entry
DEFINITION CC-CEDICT
if I (you, she, he...) had known it would come to this, I (you, she, he...) would not have acted thus (idiom) / to regret vainly one's past behavior
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-f89b857028d39064. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

早知今日何必當初 早知今日何必当初 [zao3 zhi1 jin1 ri4 he2 bi4 dang1 chu1] /if I (you, she, he...) had known it would come to this, I (you, she, he...) would not have acted thus (idiom)/to regret vainly one's past behavior/

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: 早知今日何必當初

  • 早
    zǎo

    early / morning / Good morning! / long ago / prematurely

  • 知
    zhī

    to know / to be aware

  • 今
    jīn

    now / the present time / current / contemporary / this (day, year etc)

  • 日
    rì

    (bound form) sun / day / day of the month / (bound form) Japan (abbr. for 日本[Rì běn]) / (vulgar) to fuck / to have sex with

  • 何
    hé

    what / how / why / which / carry

    Hé

    surname He

  • 必
    bì

    must / necessarily / certainly / (literary) if

  • 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)

  • 初
    chū

    (bound form) at first / initially / (bound form) first / early / (bound form) (in lunar calendar dates, before numerals 1–10) days 1 to 10 of a month, as in 初三[chū sān] "the third"

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.