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反面教材

Mandarin · pinyin fǎn miàn jiào cái

negative example
sth that teaches one what not to do

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Characters in this entry

反: fǎn · reverse, opposite, contrary, anti
面: miàn · face; surface; plane; side, dimension; Kangxi radical 176
教: jiào · teach, class
材: cái · material, stuff; timber; talent

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

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Mandarin tones

3–4–4–2 · fan3 mian4 jiao4 cai2

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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

negative example; example of what not to do

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

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