DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

三牲

Mandarin · pinyin sān shēng

the three sacrificial animals (originally cow, sheep and pig; later pig, chicken and fish)

Full entryShow on map

Characters in this entry

三: sān · three
牲: shēng · sacrificial animal; animal

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

Explore the spelling

Mandarin tones

1–1 · san1 sheng1

Compare attested words with these syllables ↗

Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.

Connected dictionary

2character links

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.

三牲 · find source passages ↗

Explore Classical grammar ↗

Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 2 senses · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

saam1 sang1

Cantonese word readings for 三牲. 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.

noun

three domestic animals (i.e. cattle, sheep, and pigs, in pre-modern times used as sacrificed offerings, in contemporary times also refers to pigs, chicken, and fish)
(Penang and Singapore Hokkien) gangster

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

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