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精衛

简精卫 · 繁精衛

Mandarin · pinyin Jīng wèi

mythological bird, reincarnation of drowned daughter Nüwa 女娃 Nǚ wá of Fiery Emperor 炎帝 Yán dì

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Characters in this entry

精: jīng · essence; semen; spirit
衛: Look up this written character
卫: wèi · guard, protect, defend

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

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Mandarin tones

1–4 · Jing1 wei4

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2character links1same-tone record3source references

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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.

精衛 · find source passages ↗ · 精卫 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 3 senses · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

zing1 wai6

Cantonese word readings for 精衛. 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.

name

(Chinese mythology) Jingwei (the daughter of the emperor Yandi who drowned at a young age in the East Sea and assumed the shape of a bird in order to exact revenge upon the sea by filling it up with pebbles)

noun

(abbreviation, alt-of) short for 精神衛生／精神卫生 (jīngshén wèishēng, “mental health”)
(abbreviation, alt-of) short for 精神衛生中心／精神卫生中心 (jīngshén wèishēng zhōngxīn)

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

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