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東亞病夫

简东亚病夫 · 繁東亞病夫

Mandarin · pinyin Dōng yà bìng fū

(derog.) "the Sick Man of Asia" (historical term referring to China in its weakened state in the late 19th and early 20th centuries)

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Characters in this entry

東: dōng · east, eastern, eastward
亞: Look up this written character
病: bìng · illness, sickness, disease
夫: fū · man, male adult, husband; those
东: dōng · east, eastern, eastward
亚: yà · Asia; second

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

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Mandarin tones

1–4–4–1 · Dong1 ya4 bing4 fu1

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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.

東亞病夫 · find source passages ↗ · 东亚病夫 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 2 senses · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

dung1 aa3 beng6 fu1

Cantonese word readings for 東亞病夫. 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.

noun

(ethnic slur, derogatory, usually collective) Chinese people.

name

sick man of East Asia

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

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