上乘

Mandarin · pinyin shàng chéng

Meanings

  1. first-class
  2. best quality
  3. also pr. shàng shèng
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Characters in this entry

上
shàng · top; superior, highest; go up, send up
乘
chéng · ride, ascend; avail oneself of; numerary adjunct for vehicles
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

4–2 · shang4 cheng2

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Read this spelling in Classical texts

Follow a written form into the eight pinned witnesses: Analects, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi, Sunzi and the Mao Shijing. A match is a place to investigate; it does not prove that a modern dictionary sense fits the passage.

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 4 senses · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

soeng6 sing6

Cantonese word readings for 上乘. 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

  1. (Buddhism) Mahayana; the Great Vehicle
  2. carriage drawn by a team of four horses
  3. first-class horse

adj

  1. best in quality; superior

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

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