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潸然淚下

简潸然泪下 · 繁潸然淚下

Mandarin · pinyin shān rán lèi xià

to shed silent tears (idiom)

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Characters in this entry

潸: shān · weep; tears flowing
然: rán · yes, certainly; pledge, promise
淚: Look up this written character
下: xià · under, underneath, below; down; inferior; bring down
泪: lèi · tears; weep, cry

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

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Mandarin tones

1–2–4–4 · shan1 ran2 lei4 xia4

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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.

潸然淚下 · find source passages ↗ · 潸然泪下 · 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) cannot hold back one’s tears; tears running down one's cheek

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

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