DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

新瓶舊酒

简新瓶旧酒 · 繁新瓶舊酒

Mandarin · pinyin xīn píng jiù jiǔ

old wine in a new bottle (idiom)

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Characters in this entry

新: xīn · new, recent, fresh, modern
瓶: píng · jug, pitcher, vase, jar, bottle
舊: Look up this written character
酒: jiǔ · wine, spirits, liquor, alcoholic beverage
旧: jiù · old, ancient; former, past

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

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Mandarin tones

1–2–4–3 · xin1 ping2 jiu4 jiu3

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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.

新瓶舊酒 · find source passages ↗ · 新瓶旧酒 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

san1 ping4 gau6 zau2

Cantonese word readings for 新瓶舊酒. 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) old wine in a new bottle; an existing concept offered again in a newer form

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

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