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狴犴

Mandarin · pinyin bì àn

(literary) mythical creature resembling a tiger whose image was painted on prison doors
(literary) prison

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Characters in this entry

狴: bì · a kind of tapir; a fierce beast depicted on the door of prisons
犴: àn · hān · a wild dog, a not very large lock-up

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Mandarin tones

4–4 · bi4 an4

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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

(literary, Chinese mythology) legendary tiger-like beast whose image used to be painted on prison doors
(literary, figurative) prison

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

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