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顛沛

简颠沛 · 繁顛沛

Mandarin · pinyin diān pèi

to fall over; to stumble
(fig.) to suffer hardship; to be in desperate straits

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Characters in this entry

顛: Look up this written character
沛: pèi · abundant, full, copious; sudden
颠: diān · top, peak, summit; upset

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

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Mandarin tones

1–4 · dian1 pei4

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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 · 4 senses

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

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

adj

destitute

noun

difficulty; hardship; trouble

verb

to fall
(figurative) to be desperate; to fail in one's attempt

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

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