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當年

简当年 · 繁當年

Mandarin · pinyin dāng nián#

in those days; back then; in those years
to be in the prime of life

Mandarin · pinyin dàng nián#

that very same year

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Characters in this entry

當: dāng · bear, accept, undertake; just
年: nián · year; new-years; person's age
当: dāng · bear, accept, undertake; just

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

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Mandarin tones

1–2 · dang1 nian2

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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.

當年 · find source passages ↗ · 当年 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 3 senses · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

dong1 nin4

Cantonese word readings for 當年. 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.

noun

those days; back then

verb

to be at the right age; to be in one's prime

noun

the same year; that very year

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

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