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勞燕分飛

简劳燕分飞 · 繁勞燕分飛

Mandarin · pinyin láo yàn fēn fēi

the shrike and the swallow fly in different directions (idiom)
(usually of a couple) to part from each other

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Characters in this entry

勞: Look up this written character
燕: yàn · swallow (bird); comfort, enjoy
分: fēn · divide; small unit of time etc.
飛: Look up this written character
劳: láo · labor, toil, do manual work
飞: fēi · fly; go quickly; dart; high

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

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Mandarin tones

2–4–1–1 · lao2 yan4 fen1 fei1

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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.

勞燕分飛 · find source passages ↗ · 劳燕分飞 · find source passages ↗

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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) the shrike (伯勞／伯劳) and the swallow (燕) part and fly in different directions
(figuratively) two lovers part

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

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