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柴門

简柴门 · 繁柴門

Mandarin · pinyin chái mén

lit. woodcutter's family
humble background
poor family background

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Characters in this entry

柴: chái · firewood, faggots, fuel
門: mén · gate, door, entrance, opening; Kangxi radical 169
门: mén · gate, door, entrance, opening

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

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Mandarin tones

2–2 · chai2 men2

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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 · 3 senses

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

noun

(literary or Hokkien) simple door made of branches, bamboo poles, wooden strips, etc.
(literary, figurative) poverty-stricken family

verb

(literary) to close the door

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

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