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夷狄

Mandarin · pinyin yí dí

non-Han tribes in the east and north of ancient China
barbarians

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Characters in this entry

夷: yí · ancient barbarian tribes
狄: dí · tribe from northern China; surname

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

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Mandarin tones

2–2 · yi2 di2

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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.

noun

(historical, archaic) the barbarians (peoples inhabiting regions peripheral to the historical Chinese heartland)
(literary, derogatory) barbarian (any ethnic group considered uncivilized)

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

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