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勾當

简勾当 · 繁勾當

Mandarin · pinyin gòu dàng

shady business

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Characters in this entry

勾: gōu · hook, join, connect; entice
當: dāng · bear, accept, undertake; just
当: dāng · bear, accept, undertake; just

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

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Mandarin tones

4–4 · gou4 dang4

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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.

勾當 · find source passages ↗ · 勾当 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 3 senses · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

ngau1 dong3

Cantonese word readings for 勾當. 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.

noun

(derogatory) dirty deal; shady business
(obsolete) matter

verb

(obsolete) to handle matters

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

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