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先賢

简先贤 · 繁先賢

Mandarin · pinyin xiān xián

(literary) ancient sage

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Characters in this entry

先: xiān · first, former, previous
賢: Look up this written character
贤: xián · virtuous, worthy, good; able

Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

1–2 · xian1 xian2

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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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Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

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

noun

(literary) sages of the past

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

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