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匈奴

Mandarin · pinyin Xiōng nú

Xiongnu, a people of the Eastern Steppe who created an empire that flourished around the time of the Qin and Han dynasties

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Characters in this entry

匈: xiōng · breast, chest, thorax; clamor; the Hsiung Nu 'Huns'
奴: nú · slave, servant

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

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Mandarin tones

1–2 · Xiong1 nu2

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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.

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

hung1 nou4

Cantonese word readings for 匈奴. 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.

name

(historical) Xiongnu (ancient nomadic-based people that formed a state or confederation north of the agriculture-based empire of the Han dynasty)

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

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