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三八線

简三八线 · 繁三八線

Mandarin · pinyin sān bā xiàn

38th parallel, forming the DMZ border between North and South Korea

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Characters in this entry

三: sān · three
八: bā · eight; all around, all sides
線: Look up this written character
线: xiàn · line, thread, wire; clue

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

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Mandarin tones

1–1–4 · san1 ba1 xian4

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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.

三八線 · find source passages ↗ · 三八线 · find source passages ↗

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Rime Cantonese 粵拼

saam1 baat3 sin3

Cantonese word readings for 三八線. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

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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.

name

(historical) the latitude of 38th parallel north (which served also as the actual control line prior to the Korean War)
Military Demarcation Line (between North and South Korea nowadays)

noun

(figurative, Mainland China) boundary line between deskmates

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

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