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堂而皇之

Mandarin · pinyin táng ér huáng zhī

overt
to make no secret (of one's presence)
grandiose
with great scope

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Characters in this entry

堂: táng · hall; government office
而: ér · and; and then; and yet; but; Kangxi radical 126
皇: huáng · royal, imperial; ruler, superior
之: zhī · marks preceding phrase as modifier of following phrase; it, him her, them; go to

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

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Mandarin tones

2–2–2–1 · tang2 er2 huang2 zhi1

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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 · 2 senses · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

tong4 ji4 wong4 zi1

Cantonese word readings for 堂而皇之. 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) open and dignified; just and forceful
(derogatory) overt and blatant

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

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