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外剛內柔

简外刚内柔 · 繁外剛內柔

Mandarin · pinyin wài gāng nèi róu

soft on the inside despite one's hard shell
appearing tough on the outside as to mask one's inner vulnerability
also written 內柔外剛 nèi róu wài gāng

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Characters in this entry

外: wài · out, outside, external; foreign
剛: Look up this written character
內: nèi · inside, interior; domestic
柔: róu · soft; gentle, pliant
刚: gāng · hard, tough, rigid, strong
内: nèi · inside

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

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Mandarin tones

4–1–4–2 · wai4 gang1 nei4 rou2

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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.

外剛內柔 · find source passages ↗ · 外刚内柔 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

ngoi6 gong1 noi6 jau4

Cantonese word readings for 外剛內柔. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

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