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引火燒身

简引火烧身 · 繁引火燒身

Mandarin · pinyin yǐn huǒ shāo shēn

to invite trouble

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Characters in this entry

引: yǐn · to pull, draw out, attract; to stretch
火: huǒ · fire, flame; burn; anger, rage
燒: shāo · burn; bake; heat; roast
身: shēn · body; trunk, hull; Kangxi radical 158
烧: shāo · burn; bake; heat; roast

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

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Mandarin tones

3–3–1–1 · yin3 huo3 shao1 shen1

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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.

引火燒身 · find source passages ↗ · 引火烧身 · find source passages ↗

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Rime Cantonese 粵拼

jan5 fo2 siu1 san1

Cantonese word readings for 引火燒身. 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

(figurative) to play with fire and bring trouble to oneself; to invite trouble
(figurative) to volunteer one's own shortcomings and errors to encourage criticism from others

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

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