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四面八方

Mandarin · pinyin sì miàn bā fāng

(idiom) all directions; all around

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Characters in this entry

四: sì · four
面: miàn · face; surface; plane; side, dimension; Kangxi radical 176
八: bā · eight; all around, all sides
方: fāng · a square, rectangle; a region; local

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

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Mandarin tones

4–4–1–1 · si4 mian4 ba1 fang1

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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 min6 baat3 fong1

Cantonese word readings for 四面八方. 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) in all directions; all around; far and wide

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

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