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憐香惜玉

简怜香惜玉 · 繁憐香惜玉

Mandarin · pinyin lián xiāng xī yù

to have tender, protective feelings for the fairer sex (idiom)

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Characters in this entry

憐: Look up this written character
香: xiāng · fragrant, sweet-smelling; incense; Kangxi radical 186
惜: xī · pity, regret, rue, begrudge
玉: yù · jade, precious stone, gem
怜: lián · pity, sympathize

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

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Mandarin tones

2–1–1–4 · lian2 xiang1 xi1 yu4

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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.

憐香惜玉 · find source passages ↗ · 怜香惜玉 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

lin4 hoeng1 sik1 juk6

Cantonese word readings for 憐香惜玉. 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) to have tender, protective feelings for women.

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

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