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乞哀告憐

简乞哀告怜 · 繁乞哀告憐

Mandarin · pinyin qǐ āi gào lián

begging for pity and asking for help (idiom)

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Characters in this entry

乞: qǐ · beg; request
哀: āi · sad, mournful, pitiful; pity
告: gào · tell, announce, inform; accuse
憐: Look up this written character
怜: lián · pity, sympathize

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

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Mandarin tones

3–1–4–2 · qi3 ai1 gao4 lian2

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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.

乞哀告憐 · find source passages ↗ · 乞哀告怜 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

hat1 oi1 gou3 lin4

Cantonese word readings for 乞哀告憐. 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.

phrase

(idiomatic) to beg for pity and ask for help

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

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