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朝秦暮楚

Mandarin · pinyin zhāo Qín mù Chǔ

serve Qin in the morning Chu in the evening (idiom); quick to switch sides

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Characters in this entry

朝: cháo · dynasty; morning
秦: qín · feudal state of Qin; the Qin dynasty (from which the name 'China' comes)
暮: mù · evening, dusk, sunset; ending
楚: chǔ · name of feudal state; clear

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

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Mandarin tones

1–2–4–3 · zhao1 Qin2 mu4 Chu3

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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 Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

ziu1 ceon4 mou6 co2

Cantonese word readings for 朝秦暮楚. 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

(figurative) to be quick to switch sides

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

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