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初生

Mandarin · pinyin chū shēng

newborn
nascent
primary (biology)

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Characters in this entry

初: chū · beginning, initial, primary
生: shēng · life, living, lifetime; birth

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

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Mandarin tones

1–1 · chu1 sheng1

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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 · 2 senses

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

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

verb

(literary) to be just born; to be newborn
(literary) to begin to develop

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

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