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小卒

Mandarin · pinyin xiǎo zú

foot soldier
minor figure
a nobody
(chess) pawn

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Characters in this entry

小: xiǎo · small, tiny, insignificant
卒: zú · soldier; servant; at last, finally

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

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Mandarin tones

3–2 · xiao3 zu2

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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 · 3 senses

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

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

noun

(literary, military) low ranking soldier; foot soldier; private
(literary) ordinary person
(xiangqi, chess) pawn (on the black side)

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

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