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海枯石爛

简海枯石烂 · 繁海枯石爛

Mandarin · pinyin hǎi kū shí làn

(lit.) until the seas dry up and stones go soft (idiom)
(fig.) forever; until the end of time

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Characters in this entry

海: hǎi · sea, ocean; maritime
枯: kū · dried out, withered, decayed
石: shí · stone, rock, mineral; Kangxi radical 112
爛: Look up this written character
烂: làn · rotten, spoiled, decayed

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

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Mandarin tones

3–1–2–4 · hai3 ku1 shi2 lan4

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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) end of the world

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

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