DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

博古通今

Mandarin · pinyin bó gǔ tōng jīn

conversant with things past and present
erudite and informed

Full entryShow on map

Characters in this entry

博: bó · gamble, play games; wide, broad
古: gǔ · old, classic, ancient
通: tōng · pass through; common; communicate
今: jīn · now, today, modern era

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

Explore the spelling

Mandarin tones

2–3–1–1 · bo2 gu3 tong1 jin1

Compare attested words with these syllables ↗

Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.

Connected dictionary

4character links

Explore word families ↗Compare pronunciations ↗Open character structure ↗

Counts describe dictionary records, not word frequency or semantic similarity. Source identities stay separate.

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.

博古通今 · find source passages ↗

Explore Classical grammar ↗

Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

bok3 gu2 tung1 gam1

Cantonese word readings for 博古通今. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

CanCLID contributors · CC BY 4.0 · source & license · Data pack

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

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

phrase

(idiomatic) to possess a wide knowledge of things ancient and modern; erudite and informed

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

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