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初出茅廬

简初出茅庐 · 繁初出茅廬

Mandarin · pinyin chū chū máo lú

venturing from one's thatched hut for the first time (idiom)
young and inexperienced
novice
greenhorn

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Characters in this entry

初: chū · beginning, initial, primary
出: chū · go out, send out; stand; produce
茅: máo · reeds, rushes, grass; surname
廬: Look up this written character
庐: lú · hut, cottage; name of a mountain

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

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Mandarin tones

1–1–2–2 · chu1 chu1 mao2 lu2

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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.

初出茅廬 · find source passages ↗ · 初出茅庐 · find source passages ↗

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Rime Cantonese 粵拼

co1 ceot1 maau4 lou4

Cantonese word readings for 初出茅廬. 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) to have just begun one's career without any experience

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

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