小隱隱於林,大隱隱於市

简 小隐隐于林,大隐隐于市 · 繁 小隱隱於林,大隱隱於市
Mandarin · pinyin xiǎo yǐn yǐn yú lín , dà yǐn yǐn yú shì

Meanings

  1. an ordinary hermit lives in the seclusion of the woods; the true recluse chooses the city (idiom)
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Characters in this entry

小
xiǎo · small, tiny, insignificant
隱
Look up this written character
於
yú · yū · in, at, on; interjection alas!
林
lín · forest, grove; surname
大
dà · big, great, vast, large, high
市
shì · market, fair; city, town; trade
隐
yǐn · hide, conceal; hidden, secret
于
yú · in, on, at; go to; surname
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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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.

小隱隱於林,大隱隱於市 · find source passages ↗ · 小隐隐于林,大隐隐于市 · find source passages ↗

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小隱隱於林,大隱隱於市 · xiao3 yin3 yin3 yu2 lin2 , da4 yin3 yin3 yu2 shi4
CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG · edition 2026-10-13 · source line 34,829
Original dictionary · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source & transformation details
Exact source record小隱隱於林,大隱隱於市 小隐隐于林,大隐隐于市 [xiao3 yin3 yin3 yu2 lin2 , da4 yin3 yin3 yu2 shi4] /an ordinary hermit lives in the seclusion of the woods; the true recluse chooses the city (idiom)/