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今非昔比

Mandarin · pinyin jīn fēi xī bǐ

(idiom) things are very different now; times have changed

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Characters in this entry

今: jīn · now, today, modern era
非: fēi · not, negative, non-; oppose; Kangxi radical 175
昔: xī · formerly; ancient; in beginning
比: bǐ · to compare, liken; comparison; than; hexagram ䷇

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

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Mandarin tones

1–1–1–3 · jin1 fei1 xi1 bi3

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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.

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

gam1 fei1 sik1 bei2

Cantonese word readings for 今非昔比. 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) the present cannot compare with the past; times have changed

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

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