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來龍去脈

简来龙去脉 · 繁來龍去脈

Mandarin · pinyin lái lóng qù mài

(lit.) the rise and fall of the terrain (idiom)
(fig.) the whole sequence of events; causes and effects

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Characters in this entry

來: lái · come, coming; return, returning
龍: Look up this written character
去: qù · go away, leave, depart
脈: mài · blood vessels, veins, arteries
来: lái · come, coming; return, returning
龙: lóng · dragon; symbolic of emperor
脉: mài · blood vessels, veins, arteries

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

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Mandarin tones

2–2–4–4 · lai2 long2 qu4 mai4

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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.

來龍去脈 · find source passages ↗ · 来龙去脉 · find source passages ↗

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Rime Cantonese 粵拼

loi4 lung4 heoi3 mak6

Cantonese word readings for 來龍去脈. 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

(figurative) origin and development; the entire process; sequence of events; ins and outs

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

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