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光陰荏苒

简光阴荏苒 · 繁光陰荏苒

Mandarin · pinyin guāng yīn rěn rǎn

(idiom) How time flies!

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Characters in this entry

光: guāng · light, brilliant, shine; only
陰: Look up this written character
荏: rěn · beans; soft, pliable; herb
苒: rǎn · lush; successively, in order
阴: yīn · 'female' principle; dark; secret

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

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Mandarin tones

1–1–3–3 · guang1 yin1 ren3 ran3

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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.

光陰荏苒 · find source passages ↗ · 光阴荏苒 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

gwong1 jam1 jam5 jim5

Cantonese word readings for 光陰荏苒. 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

(idiomatic) time flies; tempus fugit

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

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