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琉球

Mandarin · pinyin Liú qiú

Ryūkyū
refers to the Ryūkyū Islands 琉球群島 Liú qiú Qún dǎo stretching from Japan to Taiwan
Liuchiu township in Pingtung County 屏東縣 Píng dōng Xiàn, Taiwan

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Characters in this entry

琉: liú · sparkling stone; glazed, opaque
球: qiú · ball, sphere, globe; round

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

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Mandarin tones

2–2 · Liu2 qiu2

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Read this spelling in Classical texts

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Rime Cantonese 粵拼

lau4 kau4

Cantonese word readings for 琉球. 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.

name

Ryukyu, Ryūkyū (an archipelago of Japan)
(historical) Liuqiu, Lieuchieu (a legendary kingdom east of medieval China variously placed in Okinawa, Taiwan, or the Penghu Islands)
(～嶼) Liuqiu (an island of Pingtung County, Taiwan)
(～鄉) Liuqiu (a township in Pingtung County, Taiwan)

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

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