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借屍還魂

简借尸还魂 · 繁借屍還魂

Mandarin · pinyin jiè shī huán hún

lit. reincarnated in sb else's body (idiom); fig. a discarded or discredited idea returns in another guise

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Characters in this entry

借: jiè · borrow; lend; make pretext of
屍: Look up this written character
還: hái · still, yet, also, besides
魂: hún · soul, spirit
尸: shī · corpse; to impersonate the dead; to preside; Kangxi radical 44
还: hái · still, yet, also, besides

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

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Mandarin tones

4–1–2–2 · jie4 shi1 huan2 hun2

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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.

借屍還魂 · find source passages ↗ · 借尸还魂 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

ze3 si1 waan4 wan4

Cantonese word readings for 借屍還魂. 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) a discarded or discredited idea returns in another guise

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

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