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狻猊

Mandarin · pinyin suān ní

(archaic) lion
(Chinese mythology) creature said to be the cross of a lion and a dragon

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Characters in this entry

狻: suān · a fabulous beast
猊: ní · lion; wild beast; wild horse

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

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Mandarin tones

1–2 · suan1 ni2

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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 · 2 senses · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

syun1 ngai4

Cantonese word readings for 狻猊. 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

(archaic) lion
(Chinese mythology) mythological creature which is said to be a hybrid of lion and dragon, one of the nine sons of the dragon; said to either like to smoke and decorate incense burners, or like to sit down and decorate the thrones of Buddha statues

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

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