海納百川

简 海纳百川 · 繁 海納百川
Mandarin · pinyin hǎi nà bǎi chuān

Meanings

  1. all rivers run into the sea
  2. use different means to obtain the same result (idiom)
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Characters in this entry

海
hǎi · sea, ocean; maritime
納
Look up this written character
百
bǎi · one hundred; numerous, many
川
chuān · stream, river; flow; boil
纳
nà · admit, take, receive, accept
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

3–4–3–1 · hai3 na4 bai3 chuan1

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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.

海納百川 · find source passages ↗ · 海纳百川 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

hoi2 naap6 baak3 cyun1

Cantonese word readings for 海納百川. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

CanCLID contributors · CC BY 4.0 · source & license · Data pack

海納百川 · hai3 na4 bai3 chuan1
CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG · edition 2026-10-13 · source line 65,507
Original dictionary · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source & transformation details
Exact source record海納百川 海纳百川 [hai3 na4 bai3 chuan1] /all rivers run into the sea/use different means to obtain the same result (idiom)/