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后妃

Mandarin · pinyin hòu fēi

imperial wives and concubines

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Characters in this entry

后: hòu · queen, empress, sovereign; (simp. for 後) behind, rear, after
妃: fēi · wife, spouse; imperial concubine

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

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Mandarin tones

4–1 · hou4 fei1

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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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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 2 senses · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

hau6 fei1

Cantonese word readings for 后妃. 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.

noun

(archaic) the empress and the emperor's consort
(archaic) the empress dowager and the emperor's consort

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

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