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牽牛

简牵牛 · 繁牽牛

Mandarin · pinyin qiān niú#

morning glory (Pharbitis nil)

Mandarin · pinyin Qiān niú#

Altair (star)
Cowherd of the folk tale Cowherd and Weaving maid 牛郎織女

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Characters in this entry

牽: Look up this written character
牛: niú · cow, ox, bull; Kangxi radical 93; 9th lunar mansion, determinative star β Capricorni (Dabih)
牵: qiān · drag, pull, lead by hand

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

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Mandarin tones

1–2 · qian1 niu2

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Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.

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2character links1same-tone record

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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.

牽牛 · find source passages ↗ · 牵牛 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 4 senses

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

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

noun

(alt-of, alternative) Alternative term for 牽牛花／牵牛花 (qiānniúhuā).
(Taiwanese Hokkien) longhorn beetle; longicorn

name

(alt-of, alternative) Alternative term for 牽牛星／牵牛星 (Qiānniúxīng).

verb

(Southern Min) to pull or bring a cow forward

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

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