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天南地北

Mandarin · pinyin tiān nán dì běi

(idiom) far apart
(idiom) from different places; from all over
(idiom) (to talk) about this and that

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Characters in this entry

天: tiān · sky, heaven; god, celestial
南: nán · south; southern part; southward
地: de · dì · earth; soil, ground; region
北: běi · north; northern; northward

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

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Mandarin tones

1–2–4–3 · tian1 nan2 di4 bei3

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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

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

phrase

(idiomatic) very distant
(of conversation) free; without topic

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

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