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後起之秀

简后起之秀 · 繁後起之秀

Mandarin · pinyin hòu qǐ zhī xiù

(idiom) an up-and-coming youngster; new talent; a brilliant younger generation

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Characters in this entry

後: hòu · behind, rear, after; descendents
起: qǐ · rise, stand up; go up; begin
之: zhī · marks preceding phrase as modifier of following phrase; it, him her, them; go to
秀: xiù · ear of grain; flowering, luxuriant; refined, elegant, graceful
后: hòu · queen, empress, sovereign; (simp. for 後) behind, rear, after

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

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Mandarin tones

4–3–1–4 · hou4 qi3 zhi1 xiu4

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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.

後起之秀 · find source passages ↗ · 后起之秀 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

hau6 hei2 zi1 sau3

Cantonese word readings for 後起之秀. 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

(idiomatic) a young rising star; a young and promising talent

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

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