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三弦

Mandarin · pinyin sān xián

sanxian, large family of 3-stringed plucked musical instruments, with snakeskin covered wooden soundbox and long neck, used in folk music, opera and Chinese orchestra

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三: sān · three
弦: xián · string; hypotenuse, crescent

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Mandarin tones

1–2 · san1 xian2

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Rime Cantonese 粵拼

saam1 jin4

Cantonese word readings for 三弦. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

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Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

noun

sanxian (fretless lute with three strings used in traditional Chinese music)

Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history

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