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三元

Mandarin · pinyin sān yuán#

(old) first place in civil service examinations at three levels: provincial 解元 jiè yuán, metropolitan 會元 huì yuán and palace 狀元 zhuàng yuán

Mandarin · pinyin Sān yuán#

see 三元區 Sān yuán Qū

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三: sān · three
元: yuán · first; dollar; origin; head

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Mandarin tones

1–2 · san1 yuan2

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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.

noun

(historical) winning three stages in imperial examinations: 解元 (jièyuán), first place in 鄉試／乡试 (xiāngshì, “triennial provincial imperial exam”); 會元／会元 (huìyuán), first place in 會試／会试 (huìshì, “triennial metropolitan imperial exam”); 狀元／状元 (zhuàngyuan), first place in 殿試／殿试 (diànshì, “palace exam”)
(Chinese philosophy) the three elements: heaven(天 (tiān)), earth(地 (dì)), and man(人 (rén))
(historical, Chinese mathematics) three variables: x(天元), y(地元), z(人元)
(～大帝) (Taoism) the three great Emperor-Officials, important deities in Taoism: the Heavenly Official 天官 (tiānguān), the Earthly Official 地官 (dìguān) and the Water Official 水官 (shuǐguān)
(～節) (Taoism) the respective birthdates of the above deities: 上元 (Shàngyuán)(on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month), 中元 (zhōngyuán)(on the fifteenth day of the seventh lunar month), and 下元 (xiàyuán)(on the fifteenth day of the tenth lunar month)

name

(～區) Sanyuan (a district of Sanming, Fujian, China)
(～鎮) Sanyuan Town (name of several towns and townships in China)
(～村) Sanyuan (a village in Huilong, Hanchuan, Xiaogan, Hubei, China)

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

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