DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

斷壁頹垣

简断壁颓垣 · 繁斷壁頹垣

Mandarin · pinyin duàn bì tuí yuán

lit. walls reduced to rubble (idiom)
fig. scene of devastation
ruins

Full entryShow on map

Characters in this entry

斷: Look up this written character
壁: bì · partition wall; walls of a house; 14th lunar mansion, determinative star γ Pegasi (Algenib)
頹: Look up this written character
垣: yuán · low wall
断: duàn · sever, cut off; interrupt
颓: tuí · ruined, decayed; disintegrate

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

Explore the spelling

Mandarin tones

4–4–2–2 · duan4 bi4 tui2 yuan2

Compare attested words with these syllables ↗

Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.

Connected dictionary

4character links

Explore word families ↗Compare pronunciations ↗Open character structure ↗

Counts describe dictionary records, not word frequency or semantic similarity. Source identities stay separate.

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.

斷壁頹垣 · find source passages ↗ · 断壁颓垣 · find source passages ↗

Explore Classical grammar ↗