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方興未艾

简方兴未艾 · 繁方興未艾

Mandarin · pinyin fāng xīng wèi ài

flourishing and still in the ascendant (idiom); rapidly expanding
still growing strong
on the up

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Characters in this entry

方: fāng · a square, rectangle; a region; local
興: xìng · thrive, prosper, flourish
未: wèi · not yet; eighth earthly branch
艾: ài · artemisia, mugwort
兴: xìng · thrive, prosper, flourish

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

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Mandarin tones

1–1–4–4 · fang1 xing1 wei4 ai4

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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.

方興未艾 · find source passages ↗ · 方兴未艾 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

fong1 hing1 mei6 ngaai6

Cantonese word readings for 方興未艾. 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) to be ascendant or still growing

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

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