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無後

简无后 · 繁無後

Mandarin · pinyin wú hòu

(literary) to have no descendants; to have no son to continue one's lineage

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Characters in this entry

無: Look up this written character
後: hòu · behind, rear, after; descendents
无: wú · negative, no, not; Kangxi radical 71
后: hòu · queen, empress, sovereign; (simp. for 後) behind, rear, after

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

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Mandarin tones

2–4 · wu2 hou4

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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.

無後 · find source passages ↗ · 无后 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 2 senses

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

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

verb

(literary) to have no offspring; to have no progeny (traditionally male)
(literary) to not fall behind; to not be late

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

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