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清流

Mandarin · pinyin qīng liú#

clean flowing water
(fig.) (literary) honorable person, untainted by association with disreputable influences
scholars who (in former times) kept themselves aloof from the corrupting influence of those in power

Mandarin · pinyin Qīng liú#

see 清流縣 Qīng liú Xiàn

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Characters in this entry

清: qīng · clear, pure, clean; peaceful
流: liú · flow, circulate, drift; class

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

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Mandarin tones

1–2 · qing1 liu2

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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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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 3 senses

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

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

noun

(literary, literally) clear stream
(literary, figuratively, historical) renowned scholars unwilling to associate with influential scholars

name

(～縣) Qingliu (a county of Sanming, Fujian, China)

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

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