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張冠李戴

简张冠李戴 · 繁張冠李戴

Mandarin · pinyin Zhāng guān Lǐ dài

lit. to put Zhang's hat on Li's head
to attribute sth to the wrong person (idiom)
to confuse one thing with another

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Characters in this entry

張: zhāng · stretch, extend, expand; sheet; 26th lunar mansion, determinative star υ¹ Hydrae
冠: guān · cap, crown, headgear
李: lǐ · plum; judge; surname
戴: dài · wear on top; support
张: zhāng · stretch, extend, expand; sheet

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

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Mandarin tones

1–1–3–4 · Zhang1 guan1 Li3 dai4

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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.

張冠李戴 · find source passages ↗ · 张冠李戴 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

zoeng1 gun1 lei5 daai3

Cantonese word readings for 張冠李戴. 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 confuse a person with someone else; to confuse one thing with another

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

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