dĩ nông vi bổn
In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.
Meaning · English
Take farming as the foundation — of the four estates, the plow feeds the other three.
Literally: make agriculture the root
Sources & notes
Discovered via Tục ngữ, cổ ngữ, gia ngôn (Huỳnh Tịnh Của, 1897; public domain, via vi.wikisource); retrieved 2026-08-01. Source: source ↗ Attested in Tục ngữ, cổ ngữ, gia ngôn (Huỳnh Tịnh Của, 1897). Definition is an original editorial synthesis, not copied from the source.
Common questions
What does “dĩ nông vi bổn” mean?
Take farming as the foundation — of the four estates, the plow feeds the other three. Literally: make agriculture the root
Is “dĩ nông vi bổn” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.