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寥若晨星

Mandarin · pinyin liáo ruò chén xīng

rare as morning stars (idiom)
few and far between
sparse

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Characters in this entry

寥: liáo · few, scarce; empty, deserted
若: ruò · if, supposing, assuming; similar
晨: chén · early morning, daybreak
星: xīng · a star, planet; any point of light; 25th lunar mansion, determinative star α Hydrae (Alphard)

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

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Mandarin tones

2–4–2–1 · liao2 ruo4 chen2 xing1

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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 · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

liu4 joek6 san4 sing1

Cantonese word readings for 寥若晨星. 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

(simile) very few

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

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