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炭

Mandarin · pinyin tàn

wood charcoal
coal

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炭: tàn · charcoal; coal; carbon

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

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Mandarin tones

4 · tan4

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1character link9same-tone records

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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.

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 6 senses · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

taan3

Cantonese word readings for 炭. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

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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.

character

charcoal
charcoal-like substance
charcoal fire; hot charcoal
(dialectal) coal
(alt-of, alternative) alternative form of 碳 (tàn, “carbon”)
(ACG, Internet slang) -tan

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

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