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傾國傾城

简倾国倾城 · 繁傾國傾城

Mandarin · pinyin qīng guó qīng chéng

lit. capable of causing the downfall of a city or state (idiom)
fig. (of a woman) devastatingly beautiful
also written 傾城傾國 qīng chéng qīng guó

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Characters in this entry

傾: Look up this written character
國: Look up this written character
城: chéng · castle; city, town; municipality
倾: qīng · upset, pour out, overflow
国: guó · nation, country, nation-state

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

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Mandarin tones

1–2–1–2 · qing1 guo2 qing1 cheng2

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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.

傾國傾城 · find source passages ↗ · 倾国倾城 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

king1 gwok3 king1 sing4

Cantonese word readings for 傾國傾城. 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, of a woman) to be devastatingly beautiful; to be drop-dead gorgeous

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

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