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洞若觀火

简洞若观火 · 繁洞若觀火

Mandarin · pinyin dòng ruò guān huǒ

lit. to see sth as clearly as one sees a blazing fire (idiom)
fig. to grasp the situation thoroughly

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Characters in this entry

洞: dòng · cave, grotto; ravine; hole
若: ruò · if, supposing, assuming; similar
觀: Look up this written character
火: huǒ · fire, flame; burn; anger, rage
观: guān · see, observe, view; appearance

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

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Mandarin tones

4–4–1–3 · dong4 ruo4 guan1 huo3

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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.

洞若觀火 · find source passages ↗ · 洞若观火 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

dung6 joek6 gun1 fo2

Cantonese word readings for 洞若觀火. 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

(simile) to observe things absolutely clearly

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

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