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北斗

Mandarin · pinyin Běi dǒu

Big Dipper

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北: běi · north; northern; northward
斗: dòu · dǒu · a dipper; unit of volume (ten 升 or litres); Kangxi radical 68; 8th lunar mansion, determinative star φ Sagittarii

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

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Mandarin tones

3–3 · Bei3 dou3

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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 · 4 senses · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

bak1 dau2

Cantonese word readings for 北斗. 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

Big Dipper
(～衛星導航系統) BeiDou
(～市) Hokuto, Hokkaido Prefecture, Japan
(～鎮) Beidou (an urban township in Changhua County, Taiwan)

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

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