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百川歸海

简百川归海 · 繁百川歸海

Mandarin · pinyin bǎi chuān guī hǎi

all things tend in one direction (idiom)

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Characters in this entry

百: bǎi · one hundred; numerous, many
川: chuān · stream, river; flow; boil
歸: Look up this written character
海: hǎi · sea, ocean; maritime
归: guī · return; return to, revert to

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

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Mandarin tones

3–1–1–3 · bai3 chuan1 gui1 hai3

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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.

百川歸海 · find source passages ↗ · 百川归海 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

baak3 cyun1 gwai1 hoi2

Cantonese word readings for 百川歸海. 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) natural trend; all eyes look toward; all things tend to go in the same logical direction; everyone turns to somebody for guidance

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

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