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老蚌生珠

Mandarin · pinyin lǎo bàng shēng zhū

lit. an old oyster producing a pearl (idiom)
fig. birthing a son at an advanced age

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Characters in this entry

老: lǎo · old, aged; experienced; Kangxi radical 125
蚌: bàng · oysters, mussels; mother-of-pearl
生: shēng · life, living, lifetime; birth
珠: zhū · precious stone, gem, jewel, pearl

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

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Mandarin tones

3–4–1–1 · lao3 bang4 sheng1 zhu1

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 2 senses · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

lou5 pong5 saang1 zyu1

Cantonese word readings for 老蚌生珠. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

CanCLID contributors · CC BY 4.0 · source & license · Data pack

lou5 pong5 saang1 zyu1

Pleco · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Word reading; meanings not aligned.

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

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

phrase

(originally) to have a virtuous son
(idiomatic) to have a child at an old age

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

Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack