DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

一言堂

Mandarin · pinyin yī yán táng

(sign hung in a shop) prices fixed – no bargaining (old)
having things decided by the will of a single individual
autocratic rule
(contrasted with 群言堂 qún yán táng)

Full entryShow on map

Characters in this entry

一: yī · one; a, an; alone
言: yán · words, speech; speak, say; Kangxi radical 149
堂: táng · hall; government office

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

Explore the spelling

Mandarin tones

1–2–2 · yi1 yan2 tang2

Compare attested words with these syllables ↗

Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.

Connected dictionary

3character links1source reference

Explore word families ↗Compare pronunciations ↗Open character structure ↗

Counts describe dictionary records, not word frequency or semantic similarity. Source identities stay separate.

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.

一言堂 · find source passages ↗

Explore Classical grammar ↗

Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 2 senses · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

jat1 jin4 tong2

Cantonese word readings for 一言堂. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

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

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

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

phrase

(idiomatic) authoritarian decision making (in which one person decides the matter arbitrarily)
(archaic) no bargaining; fixed price

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

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