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非钱不行
非钱不行
非钱不行
非钱不行
非钱不行
非钱不行
非钱不行
非钱不行

非钱不行 — “Without money, it won't work”

非钱不行 is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “refers to a situation where things cannot be accomplished or processed without money, often implying a system where bribery or financial influence is necessary”. Literally, “Without money, it won't work”.

Frequency

非钱不行 Pronunciation and Pinyin

非钱不行 Character Breakdown

Stroke Order
CharacterPinyinStrokesMeaning
非
fēi8not, non-, wrong
钱
qián10money, currency, wealth
不
bù4not
行
xíng6to walk, act, or a line

Example Sentence with 非钱不行

小王抱怨说,有些事情真是非钱不行,没有熟人引荐或者不花点额外费用,事情根本办不成。
Xiao Wang complained that some things truly 'cannot be done without money'; without connections or paying extra fees, things simply won't get accomplished.

Origin and Story of 非钱不行

During the Tang Dynasty, Zheng Yin was appointed as an assistant minister in the Ministry of Personnel, overseeing the selection of lower-ranking officials. At that time, the officialdom was very corrupt, with bribery being rampant. One could not secure a good position without bribing officials in the Ministry of Personnel.

A certain candidate tied 100 coins to his shoelace. Zheng Yin, seeing this, found it strange and asked him the reason. The candidate replied, "In today's selection process, it simply won't work without money."

Idioms Related to 非钱不行

More idioms starting with 非

  • fēi非qīn亲fēi非gù故neither kin nor acquaintance
  • fēi非rén人bù不chuán传teach only the right candidate
  • fēi非fèn分zhī之niàn念improper thoughts or desires
  • fēi非fèn分zhī之xiǎng想covet what is beyond one's proper share
  • fēi非fèn分zhī之cái财ill-gotten gains
  • fēi非xíng刑diào吊kǎo拷inflict brutal unlawful torture
  • fēi非xíng刑kǎo拷dǎ打torture unlawfully to extort a confession
  • fēi非xíng刑bī逼kǎo拷extort confession by cruel torture
  • fēi非tóng同ér儿xì戏no child's play
  • fēi非tóng同xún寻cháng常extraordinary and remarkable
  • fēi非tóng同xiǎo小kě可of great importance
  • fēi非tóng同děng等xián闲not to be treated lightly

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Questions about 非钱不行

What does 非钱不行 mean?

非钱不行 (fēi qián bù xíng) is a Chinese idiom (chengyu) meaning “refers to a situation where things cannot be accomplished or processed without money, often implying a system where bribery or financial influence is necessary”.

How do you pronounce 非钱不行?

非钱不行 is pronounced fēi qián bù xíng in Mandarin Chinese.

What does 非钱不行 literally mean?

Literally, 非钱不行 means “Without money, it won't work”. It is used to mean “refers to a situation where things cannot be accomplished or processed without money, often implying a system where bribery or financial influence is necessary”.

Where does 非钱不行 come from?

非钱不行 comes from a classical Chinese story dating back to ancient China. The full story is on this page.

What is the Chinese definition of 非钱不行?

指官场黑暗,贪污成风,办事没有钱打通关节是行不通的

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