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穿小鞋

Mandarin · pinyin chuān xiǎo xié

to have one's life made difficult by sb (usu. by sb in a position of authority) (lit. to be made to wear tight shoes)

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Characters in this entry

穿: chuān · penetrate, pierce, drill; wear
小: xiǎo · small, tiny, insignificant
鞋: xié · shoes, footwear in general

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

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Mandarin tones

1–3–2 · chuan1 xiao3 xie2

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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.

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

cyun1 siu2 haai4

Cantonese word readings for 穿小鞋. 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

(figurative) to make things hard for someone by abusing one's power

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

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