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啟

简启 · 繁啟

Mandarin · pinyin qǐ#

Mandarin · pinyin Qǐ#

Qi son of Yu the Great 禹 Yǔ, reported founder of the Xia Dynasty 夏朝 Xià Cháo (c. 2070-c. 1600 BC)

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Characters in this entry

啟: Look up this written character
启: qǐ · open; begin, commence; explain

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

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Mandarin tones

3 · qi3

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1character link33same-tone records

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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.

啟 · find source passages ↗ · 启 · find source passages ↗

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Rime Cantonese 粵拼

kai2

Cantonese word readings for 啟. 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.

character

to open
to start; to begin; to commence
to inform; to state; to explain
to enlighten; to educate; to inspire
(literary) short letter; note
(historical) letter from a government official
(Chinese mythology) Qi of Xia (second king of the semi-legendary Xia dynasty)
(abbreviation, alt-of) short for 啟示錄／启示录 (Qǐshìlù, “Revelation”)
a surname

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

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