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化干戈為玉帛

简化干戈为玉帛 · 繁化干戈為玉帛

Mandarin · pinyin huà gān gē wéi yù bó

lit. to exchange weapons of war for gifts of jade and silk (idiom)
fig. to turn hostility into friendship

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Characters in this entry

化: huà · change, convert, reform; -ize
干: gàn · oppose, offend; invade; dried
戈: gē · halberd, spear, lance; rad. 62
為: Look up this written character
玉: yù · jade, precious stone, gem
帛: bó · silks, fabrics; wealth, property
为: wèi · do, handle, govern, act; be

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

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Mandarin tones

4–1–1–2–4–2 · hua4 gan1 ge1 wei2 yu4 bo2

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

faa3 gon1 gwo1 wai4 juk6 baak6

Pleco · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Word reading; meanings not aligned.

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

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

phrase

(idiomatic) to turn hostility into friendship; to bury the hatchet

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

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