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四大
Mandarin · pinyin sì dà
Meanings
- the four elements: earth, water, fire, and wind (Buddhism)
- the four freedoms: speaking out freely, airing views fully, holding great debates, and writing big-character posters, 大鳴大放 dà míng dà fàng, 大辯論 dà biàn lùn, 大字報 dà zì bào (PRC)
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Mandarin tones
4–4 · si4 da4
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Counts describe dictionary records, not word frequency or semantic similarity. Source identities stay separate.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.
Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 3 senses
Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section
Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.
noun
- (Taoism) "Four Greats" (Tao, heaven, earth and man)
- (Buddhism) Four महाभूत (mahābhūta) (Great Elements of Buddhism, viz. earth, water, fire and air)
- (business, accounting) The four largest global auditing firms, comprising Deloitte, Ernst & Young, KPMG, and PricewaterhouseCoopers.
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