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四世同堂

Mandarin · pinyin sì shì tóng táng#

four generations under one roof (idiom)

Mandarin · pinyin Sì Shì Tóng táng#

Four Generations Under One Roof, novel by Lao She 老舍 Lǎo Shě

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Characters in this entry

四: sì · four
世: shì · generation; world; era
同: tóng · same, similar; together with
堂: táng · hall; government office

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

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Mandarin tones

4–4–2–2 · si4 shi4 tong2 tang2

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4character links1same-tone record

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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.

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

sei3 sai3 tung4 tong4

Cantonese word readings for 四世同堂. 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.

phrase

(idiomatic) four generations under one roof

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

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