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棋子

Mandarin · pinyin qí zǐ

chess piece
Classifier: 個 gè, 顆 kē
(fig.) a pawn (used by others for their own purposes)

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Characters in this entry

棋: qí · chess; any game similar to chess
子: zǐ · offspring, child; fruit, seed of; first earthly branch

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

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Mandarin tones

2–3 · qi2 zi3

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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 · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

kei4 zi2

Cantonese word readings for 棋子. 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

board game piece (Classifier: 顆／颗 m; 枚)
chess piece (Classifier: 顆／颗 m; 枚)
(figurative) pawn; person being used to some end (Classifier: 顆／颗 m; 枚)

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

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