CANTONESE ↔ ENGLISH · CC-CANTO

下里巴人

Cantonese · source Jyutpinghaa6 lei5 baa1 jan4

Chinese idiom, meaning popular or easily understandable art or literature

About these definitions

Source definition segments, in their original order. Characters a definition cites are shown without their Mandarin pinyin; classifier lists that CC-Canto copied from CC-CEDICT are marked Mandarin. The community dictionary is not independently verified by zimai.

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Reading & tones

haa66 · low levellei55 · low risingbaa11 · high leveljan44 · low falling

Schematic citation-tone diagrams from the source numbers. These are not recordings or predictions of connected speech.

Same syllable, six tones

haa哈haa1laughterhaa2—haa3—霞haa4red / rosy cloudshaa5—下haa6down

lei喱lei1grain weightlei2—lei3—离lei4to leave 理lei5texture 利lei6sharp

baa巴baa1to long for 把baa2to hold 霸baa3hegemonbaa4—baa5—罢baa6to express doubt / command / casual invitation

jan因jan1cause 隐jan2secret 印jan3to print 人jan4man 引jan5to seduce or tempt 孕jan6pregnant

Characters whose customary Unihan reading (kCantonese) is this syllable in each tone, chosen as in the tone atlas (2013 standard level, then the number of CC-CEDICT words they form), with CC-Canto 2017's meaning for that reading; a dash means no catalogue character has that reading. Checked syllables (-p, -t, -k) normally carry tones 1, 3 and 6. Character readings, not word readings; no frequency implied.

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Written characters

下里巴人

Both source spellings are represented. Written membership is not an etymological or semantic claim.

Cantonese characters and the Mandarin bridge ↗

Mandarin comparison · separate source entries

CC-CEDICT, the Mandarin–English dictionary, lists the same written form:

下里巴人 xià lǐ bā rén CC-CEDICT · Mandarinfolk songs of the state of Chu 楚國 Chǔ guó; popular art forms (contrasted with 陽春白雪 yáng chūn bái xuě, highbrow art forms)

A separate source entry, shown for comparison. The same characters can carry different senses in Mandarin and in Cantonese; zimai does not align these senses.

CC-Canto includes this pinyin reference: Xia4 li3 ba1 ren2. It does not establish a Mandarin word with the same meaning.

Look up this spelling in the Mandarin dictionary ↗

Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 3 senses

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

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

phrase

(idiomatic) vulgar or low-quality literature, music or art
(figurative) popular literature, music or art
(humble) one's own artwork or composition

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

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