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天罡

Mandarin · pinyin Tiān gāng

(old) the Big Dipper
(old) collective name for the three stars that form the handle of the Big Dipper

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Characters in this entry

天: tiān · sky, heaven; god, celestial
罡: gāng · the stars making up the handle of the Big Dipper (Alkaid, Mizar, and Alioth)

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

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Mandarin tones

1–1 · Tian1 gang1

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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.

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 5 senses

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

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

noun

(Chinese astronomy, Taoism) Big Dipper
(Chinese astronomy) handle of the Big Dipper
(Taoism) Name for a heavenly spirit. According to Daoist religious texts, there are 36 in all.
(Xianyou Puxian Min) naughty boy

adj

(Puxian Min) naughty, mischievous

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

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