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佛口蛇心

Mandarin · pinyin fó kǒu shé xīn

words of a Buddha, heart of a snake (idiom); two-faced
malicious and duplicitous

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Characters in this entry

佛: fú · Buddha; of Buddhism; merciful person; Buddhist image; the dead (Japanese)
口: kǒu · mouth; open end; entrance, gate
蛇: shé · snake
心: xīn · heart; mind, intelligence; soul; 5th lunar mansion, determinative star α Scorpii (Antares)

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Mandarin tones

2–3–2–1 · fo2 kou3 she2 xin1

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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

fat6 hau2 se4 sam1

Cantonese word readings for 佛口蛇心. 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 speak with benevolence and mercy but be vicious and malicious in reality

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

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