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喜憂參半

简喜忧参半 · 繁喜憂參半

Mandarin · pinyin xǐ yōu cān bàn

to have mixed feelings (about sth)

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Characters in this entry

喜: xǐ · like, love, enjoy; joyful thing
憂: Look up this written character
參: Look up this written character
半: bàn · half
忧: yōu · sad, grieved; grief, melancholy
参: cān · take part in, intervene; ginseng; 21st lunar mansion, determinative star ζ Orionis (Alnitak)

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

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Mandarin tones

3–1–1–4 · xi3 you1 can1 ban4

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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.

喜憂參半 · find source passages ↗ · 喜忧参半 · find source passages ↗

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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.

phrase

(idiomatic) to have a mixture of happy and sad feelings

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

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