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明裡暗裡

简明里暗里 · 繁明裡暗裡

Mandarin · pinyin míng lǐ àn lǐ

both publicly and privately; both overtly and secretly; both explicitly and implicitly

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Characters in this entry

明: míng · bright, light, brilliant; clear
裡: Look up this written character
暗: àn · dark; obscure; in secret, covert
里: lǐ · unit of distance; village; lane; Kangxi radical 166

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

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Mandarin tones

2–3–4–3 · ming2 li3 an4 li3

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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.

明裡暗裡 · find source passages ↗ · 明里暗里 · find source passages ↗

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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) openly and covertly; implicitly and explicitly

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

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