DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

煉丹術

简炼丹术 · 繁煉丹術

Mandarin · pinyin liàn dān shù

maker of immortality pill
concocting magic pills

Full entryShow on map

Characters in this entry

煉: Look up this written character
丹: dān · cinnabar (native HgS); vermilion (artificial HgS used as pigment)
術: Look up this written character
炼: liàn · smelt, refine; distill, condense
术: shù · art, skill, special feat; method, technique

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

Explore the spelling

Mandarin tones

4–1–4 · lian4 dan1 shu4

Compare attested words with these syllables ↗

Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.

Connected dictionary

3character links

Explore word families ↗Compare pronunciations ↗Open character structure ↗

Counts describe dictionary records, not word frequency or semantic similarity. Source identities stay separate.

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.

煉丹術 · find source passages ↗ · 炼丹术 · find source passages ↗

Explore Classical grammar ↗

Compare dictionary sources Rime · Wiktionary

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

lin6 daan1 seot6

Cantonese word readings for 煉丹術. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

CanCLID contributors · CC BY 4.0 · source & license · Data pack

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

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

noun

(religion) ancient Chinese alchemy

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

Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack