揀佛燒香

简 拣佛烧香 · 繁 揀佛燒香
Mandarin · pinyin jiǎn fó shāo xiāng

Meanings

  1. to choose which Buddha to burn incense to (idiom); fig. to curry favor from the right person
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Characters in this entry

揀
Look up this written character
佛
fú · Buddha; of Buddhism; merciful person; Buddhist image; the dead (Japanese)
燒
shāo · burn; bake; heat; roast
香
xiāng · fragrant, sweet-smelling; incense; Kangxi radical 186
拣
jiǎn · choose; select; pick up; gather
烧
shāo · burn; bake; heat; roast
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

3–2–1–1 · jian3 fo2 shao1 xiang1

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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.

揀佛燒香 · find source passages ↗ · 拣佛烧香 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

gaan2 fat6 siu1 hoeng1

Cantonese word readings for 揀佛燒香. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

CanCLID contributors · CC BY 4.0 · source & license · Data pack

揀佛燒香 · jian3 fo2 shao1 xiang1
CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG · edition 2026-10-13 · source line 48,184
Original dictionary · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source & transformation details
Exact source record揀佛燒香 拣佛烧香 [jian3 fo2 shao1 xiang1] /to choose which Buddha to burn incense to (idiom); fig. to curry favor from the right person/