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天翻地覆

Mandarin · pinyin tiān fān dì fù

sky and the earth turning upside down (idiom); fig. complete confusion
everything turned on its head

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Characters in this entry

天: tiān · sky, heaven; god, celestial
翻: fān · flip over, upset, capsize
地: de · dì · earth; soil, ground; region
覆: fù · cover; tip over; return; reply

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

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Mandarin tones

1–1–4–4 · tian1 fan1 di4 fu4

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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

tin1 faan1 dei6 fuk1

Cantonese word readings for 天翻地覆. 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) bringing drastic changes; earthshaking
(idiomatic) having everything messed up; chaotic

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

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