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地動山搖

简地动山摇 · 繁地動山搖

Mandarin · pinyin dì dòng shān yáo

the earth quaked, the mountains shook (idiom); a tremendous battle

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Characters in this entry

地: de · dì · earth; soil, ground; region
動: dòng · move, happen; movement, action
山: shān · mountain, hill, peak
搖: yáo · wag, swing, wave; shake; scull
动: dòng · move, happen; movement, action
摇: yáo · wag, swing, wave; shake; scull

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

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Mandarin tones

4–4–1–2 · di4 dong4 shan1 yao2

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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.

地動山搖 · find source passages ↗ · 地动山摇 · 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) earthshaking

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

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