DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

平民

Mandarin · pinyin píng mín

ordinary people; commoner (contrasted with the privileged)
civilian (contrasted with the military)

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Characters in this entry

平: píng · flat, level, even; peaceful
民: mín · people, subjects, citizens

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

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Mandarin tones

2–2 · ping2 min2

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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

ping4 man4

Cantonese word readings for 平民. 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.

noun · Etymology 1

ordinary people; commoner; plebeian; civilian; everyday person; person of humble birth

verb · Etymology 2

(Classical) to govern the people

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

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