DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

盤龍臥虎

简盘龙卧虎 · 繁盤龍臥虎

Mandarin · pinyin pán lóng wò hǔ

lit. coiled dragon, crouching tiger (idiom)
fig. talented individuals in hiding
concealed talent

Full entryShow on map

Characters in this entry

盤: Look up this written character
龍: Look up this written character
臥: Look up this written character
虎: hǔ · tiger; brave, fierce; surname
盘: pán · tray, plate, dish; examine
龙: lóng · dragon; symbolic of emperor
卧: wò · lie down; crouch

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

Explore the spelling

Mandarin tones

2–2–4–3 · pan2 long2 wo4 hu3

Compare attested words with these syllables ↗

Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.

Connected dictionary

4character links

Explore word families ↗Compare pronunciations ↗Open character structure ↗

Counts describe dictionary records, not word frequency or semantic similarity. Source identities stay separate.

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.

盤龍臥虎 · find source passages ↗ · 盘龙卧虎 · find source passages ↗

Explore Classical grammar ↗

Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

pun4 lung4 ngo6 fu2

Cantonese word readings for 盤龍臥虎. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

CanCLID contributors · CC BY 4.0 · source & license · Data pack

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

phrase

(idiomatic) intertwined dragons and sleeping tigers; talented men still remaining in concealment

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

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