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一顰一笑

简一颦一笑 · 繁一顰一笑

Mandarin · pinyin yī pín yī xiào

every frown and every smile

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Characters in this entry

一: yī · one; a, an; alone
顰: Look up this written character
笑: xiào · smile, laugh, giggle; snicker
颦: pín · frown, knit brows; with knitted

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

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Mandarin tones

1–2–1–4 · yi1 pin2 yi1 xiao4

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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.

一顰一笑 · find source passages ↗ · 一颦一笑 · find source passages ↗

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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) every frown and smile; every facial expression

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

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