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明升暗降

Mandarin · pinyin míng shēng àn jiàng

(idiom) to kick sb upstairs

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Characters in this entry

明: míng · bright, light, brilliant; clear
升: shēng · arise, go up; hoist; advance; hexagram ䷭
暗: àn · dark; obscure; in secret, covert
降: jiàng · descend, fall, drop; lower, down

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

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Mandarin tones

2–1–4–4 · ming2 sheng1 an4 jiang4

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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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Compare dictionary sources 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

ming4 sing1 am3 gong3

Cantonese word readings for 明升暗降. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

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