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四大天王

Mandarin · pinyin sì dà tiān wáng

the four heavenly kings (Sanskrit vajra)
the four guardians or warrior attendants of Buddha

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Characters in this entry

四: sì · four
大: dà · big, great, vast, large, high
天: tiān · sky, heaven; god, celestial
王: wáng · king, ruler; royal; surname

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

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Mandarin tones

4–4–1–2 · si4 da4 tian1 wang2

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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 · 3 senses · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

sei3 daai6 tin1 wong4

Cantonese word readings for 四大天王. 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

(Buddhism) Four Heavenly Kings, the four guardian gods who protect each of the four cardinal directions; the lokapālas
(colloquial) a group of four prominent individuals
(pop culture) a slang term for four of Hong Kong's most famous male Cantopop singers, namely Andy Lau, Aaron Kwok, Jacky Cheung and Leon Lai

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

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