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漂洋過海

简漂洋过海 · 繁漂洋過海

Mandarin · pinyin piāo yáng guò hǎi

(idiom) to cross the ocean; to cross the seas

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Characters in this entry

漂: piào · float, drift; tossed about
洋: yáng · ocean, sea; foreign; western
過: guò · pass, pass through, go across
海: hǎi · sea, ocean; maritime
过: guò · pass, pass through, go across

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

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Mandarin tones

1–2–4–3 · piao1 yang2 guo4 hai3

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5character links1same-tone record

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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.

漂洋過海 · find source passages ↗ · 漂洋过海 · find source passages ↗

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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) to sail across the sea to a foreign land; to travel across the sea; to go abroad

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

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