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內憂外患

简内忧外患 · 繁內憂外患

Mandarin · pinyin nèi yōu wài huàn

internal trouble and outside aggression (idiom); in a mess both domestically and abroad

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Characters in this entry

內: nèi · inside, interior; domestic
憂: Look up this written character
外: wài · out, outside, external; foreign
患: huàn · suffer, worry about; suffering
内: nèi · inside
忧: yōu · sad, grieved; grief, melancholy

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

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Mandarin tones

4–1–4–4 · nei4 you1 wai4 huan4

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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.

內憂外患 · find source passages ↗ · 内忧外患 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

noi6 jau1 ngoi6 waan6

Cantonese word readings for 內憂外患. 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

(of a country) internal and external troubles; internal upheaval and external invasions

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

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