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倒敘

简倒叙 · 繁倒敘

Mandarin · pinyin dào xù

to start a narrative at the end (or midway), then proceed chronologically from the beginning
to flash back
flashback (in a novel, movie etc)

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Characters in this entry

倒: dào · fall over; lie down; take turns
敘: Look up this written character
叙: xù · express, state, relate, narrate

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

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Mandarin tones

4–4 · dao4 xu4

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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.

倒敘 · find source passages ↗ · 倒叙 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 2 senses · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

dou3 zeoi6

Cantonese word readings for 倒敘. 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.

verb

to flashback

noun

flashback

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

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