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南方

Mandarin · pinyin nán fāng

south; southern direction
(in China) southern regions, often referring to areas south of the Yangtze River

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Characters in this entry

南: nán · south; southern part; southward
方: fāng · a square, rectangle; a region; local

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

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Mandarin tones

2–1 · nan2 fang1

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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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Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

noun

south
southern part (of a country)
(specifically) southern China (usually referring to the area to the south of the Yellow River)

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

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