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一碗水端平

Mandarin · pinyin yī wǎn shuǐ duān píng

lit. to hold a bowl of water level (idiom)
fig. to be impartial

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Characters in this entry

一: yī · one; a, an; alone
碗: wǎn · bowl, small dish
水: shuǐ · water, liquid, lotion, juice
端: duān · end, extreme; head; beginning
平: píng · flat, level, even; peaceful

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

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Mandarin tones

1–3–3–1–2 · yi1 wan3 shui3 duan1 ping2

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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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Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

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

phrase

(idiomatic) to be impartial

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

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