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蠱

简 蛊 · 繁 蠱
Mandarin · pinyin gǔ

Meanings

  1. arch. legendary venomous insect
  2. to poison
  3. to bewitch
  4. to drive to insanity
  5. to harm by witchcraft
  6. intestinal parasite
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Characters in this entry

蠱
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蛊
gǔ · poison; venom; harm; bewitch
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Entries containing 蠱 ↗Words written with 蠱 ↗Words written with 蛊 ↗

Mandarin tones

3 · gu3

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1character link55same-tone records
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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.

蠱 · find source passages ↗ · 蛊 · find source passages ↗

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Rime Cantonese 粵拼

gu2

Cantonese word readings for 蠱. 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.

character · Etymology 1

  1. (historical) a type of artificially cultivated poisonous insect; the one insect remaining in the vessel where toxic insects are allowed to eat each other
  2. (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) insect that grows on rotting grain; pest; vermin
  3. (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) hot, noxious air that harms people; miasma
  4. to entice; to bewitch
  5. (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) malevolent sorcery, including charms, curses and prayers to evil spirits
  6. (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) affair; matter
  7. 18th hexagram of the I Ching (䷑)

character · Etymology 2

  1. (obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) alternative form of 冶 (yě, “bewitchingly pretty; seductive”)

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

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