文昌魚

简 文昌鱼 · 繁 文昌魚
Mandarin · pinyin wén chāng yú

Meanings

  1. lancelet (Branchiostoma lanceolatum), a primitive fish
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Characters in this entry

文
wén · literature, culture, writing
昌
chāng · light of sun; good, proper
魚
yú · fish; surname; Kangxi radical 195
鱼
yú · fish; surname; Kangxi radical 195
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

2–1–2 · wen2 chang1 yu2

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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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Rime Cantonese 粵拼

man4 coeng1 jyu2

Cantonese word readings for 文昌魚. 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.

noun

  1. lancelet; amphioxus (any fish of the genus Branchiostoma)

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

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