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海涵

Mandarin · pinyin hǎi hán

(polite expression) to be magnanimous enough to forgive or tolerate (one's errors or shortcomings)

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Characters in this entry

海: hǎi · sea, ocean; maritime
涵: hán · soak, wet; tolerate, be lenient

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Mandarin tones

3–2 · hai3 han2

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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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Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

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

verb

(polite) to be generous enough to forgive or excuse (like the sea which unconditionally accepts all rivers)

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

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