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空中樓閣

简空中楼阁 · 繁空中樓閣

Mandarin · pinyin kōng zhōng lóu gé

pavilion in the air (idiom); unrealistic Utopian construction
castles in Spain
imaginary future plans

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Characters in this entry

空: kōng · empty, hollow, bare, deserted
中: zhōng · central; center, middle; in the midst of; hit (target); attain
樓: Look up this written character
閣: Look up this written character
楼: lóu · building of two or more stories
阁: gé · chamber, pavilion; cabinet

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

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Mandarin tones

1–1–2–2 · kong1 zhong1 lou2 ge2

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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.

空中樓閣 · find source passages ↗ · 空中楼阁 · find source passages ↗

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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) castle in the air; illusion

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

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