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烈女

Mandarin · pinyin liè nǚ

a woman who dies fighting for her honor or follows her husband in death

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Characters in this entry

烈: liè · fiery, violent, vehement, ardent
女: nǚ · woman, girl; feminine; Kangxi radical 38; 10th lunar mansion, determinative star ε Aquarii (Albali)

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Mandarin tones

4–3 · lie4 nu:3

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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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Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

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

noun

heroine, female martyr
(neo-Confucianism) a woman who commits suicide after her husband or fiancé's death rather than remarry, or who dies preserving her chastity

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

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