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惹是生非

Mandarin · pinyin rě shì shēng fēi

to stir up trouble

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Characters in this entry

惹: rě · irritate, vex, offend, incite
是: shì · indeed, yes, right; to be; demonstrative pronoun, this, that
生: shēng · life, living, lifetime; birth
非: fēi · not, negative, non-; oppose; Kangxi radical 175

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

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Mandarin tones

3–4–1–1 · re3 shi4 sheng1 fei1

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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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Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

phrase

(idiomatic) to provoke a dispute; to stir up trouble

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

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