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生靈塗炭

简生灵涂炭 · 繁生靈塗炭

Mandarin · pinyin shēng líng tú tàn

people are in a terrible situation (idiom)

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Characters in this entry

生: shēng · life, living, lifetime; birth
靈: Look up this written character
塗: Look up this written character
炭: tàn · charcoal; coal; carbon
灵: líng · spirit, soul; spiritual world
涂: tú · surname; name of certain rivers

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

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Mandarin tones

1–2–2–4 · sheng1 ling2 tu2 tan4

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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.

生靈塗炭 · find source passages ↗ · 生灵涂炭 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

sang1 ling4 tou4 taan3

Cantonese word readings for 生靈塗炭. 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.

phrase

(idiomatic) the people are living in extreme suffering and misery

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

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