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烏有

简乌有 · 繁烏有

Mandarin · pinyin wū yǒu

(literary) not to exist; nonexistent; illusory

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Characters in this entry

烏: Look up this written character
有: yǒu · have, own, possess; exist
乌: wū · crow, rook, raven; black, dark

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Mandarin tones

1–3 · wu1 you3

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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, figurative) nonexistent person or thing; naught; nothing

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

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