兩袖清風

简 两袖清风 · 繁 兩袖清風
Mandarin · pinyin liǎng xiù qīng fēng

Meanings

  1. lit. both sleeves flowing in the breeze (idiom); having clean hands
  2. uncorrupted
  3. unsoiled by corrupt practices
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Characters in this entry

兩
liǎng · two, both, pair, couple; ounce
袖
xiù · sleeve; put something in sleeve
清
qīng · clear, pure, clean; peaceful
風
fēng · wind; air; manners, atmosphere; Kangxi radical 182
两
liǎng · two, both, pair, couple; ounce
风
fēng · wind; air; manners, atmosphere
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

3–4–1–1 · liang3 xiu4 qing1 feng1

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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.

兩袖清風 · find source passages ↗ · 两袖清风 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

loeng5 zau6 cing1 fung1

Cantonese word readings for 兩袖清風. 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

  1. (of a government official) to be uncorrupted and upright and never take bribes

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

Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack

兩袖清風 · liang3 xiu4 qing1 feng1
CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG · edition 2026-10-13 · source line 11,567
Original dictionary · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source & transformation details
Exact source record兩袖清風 两袖清风 [liang3 xiu4 qing1 feng1] /lit. both sleeves flowing in the breeze (idiom); having clean hands/uncorrupted/unsoiled by corrupt practices/