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挑大梁

Mandarin · pinyin tiǎo dà liáng

to play a leading role
to bear a heavy responsibility

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Characters in this entry

挑: tiāo · a load carried on the shoulders; to carry
大: dà · big, great, vast, large, high
梁: liáng · bridge; beam; rafters; surname

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

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Mandarin tones

3–4–2 · tiao3 da4 liang2

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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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Compare dictionary sources 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

tiu1 daai6 loeng4

Cantonese word readings for 挑大梁. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

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