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大旱望雲霓

简大旱望云霓 · 繁大旱望雲霓

Mandarin · pinyin dà hàn wàng yún ní

(lit.) looking for rain clouds in times of drought (idiom)
(fig.) to yearn for relief from a desperate situation

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Characters in this entry

大: dà · big, great, vast, large, high
旱: hàn · drought; dry; dry land
望: wàng · to look at, look forward; to hope, expect
雲: yún · clouds; Yunnan province
霓: ní · rainbow; variegated, colored
云: yún · say, speak; clouds

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

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Mandarin tones

4–4–4–2–2 · da4 han4 wang4 yun2 ni2

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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.

大旱望雲霓 · find source passages ↗ · 大旱望云霓 · 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) to look forward to relief from distress

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

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