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星羅棋布

简星罗棋布 · 繁星羅棋布

Mandarin · pinyin xīng luó qí bù

scattered about like stars in the sky or chess pieces on a board (idiom); spread all over the place

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Characters in this entry

星: xīng · a star, planet; any point of light; 25th lunar mansion, determinative star α Hydrae (Alphard)
羅: Look up this written character
棋: qí · chess; any game similar to chess
布: bù · cotton cloth, textiles, linen
罗: luó · net for catching birds; gauze

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

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Mandarin tones

1–2–2–4 · xing1 luo2 qi2 bu4

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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.

星羅棋布 · find source passages ↗ · 星罗棋布 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

sing1 lo4 kei4 bou3

Cantonese word readings for 星羅棋布. 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 spread all over the place; to be dotted with

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

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