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步人後塵

简步人后尘 · 繁步人後塵

Mandarin · pinyin bù rén hòu chén

to follow in other people's footsteps

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Characters in this entry

步: bù · step, pace; walk, stroll
人: rén · man; people; mankind; someone else
後: hòu · behind, rear, after; descendents
塵: Look up this written character
后: hòu · queen, empress, sovereign; (simp. for 後) behind, rear, after
尘: chén · dust, dirt, ashes, cinders

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

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Mandarin tones

4–2–4–2 · bu4 ren2 hou4 chen2

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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.

步人後塵 · find source passages ↗ · 步人后尘 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

bou6 jan4 hau6 can4

Cantonese word readings for 步人後塵. 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 follow in somebody's footsteps

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

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