先鞭

Mandarin · pinyin xiān biān

Meanings

  1. to be the first; to lead the way
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Characters in this entry

先
xiān · first, former, previous
鞭
biān · whip; whip; string of firecrackers
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

1–1 · xian1 bian1

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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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