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章回小說

简章回小说 · 繁章回小說

Mandarin · pinyin zhāng huí xiǎo shuō

novel in chapters, main format for long novels from the Ming onwards, with each chapter headed by a summary couplet

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Characters in this entry

章: zhāng · composition; chapter, section
回: huí · return, turn around; a time
小: xiǎo · small, tiny, insignificant
說: shuō · speak, say, talk; scold, upbraid
说: shuō · speak, say, talk; scold, upbraid

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

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Mandarin tones

1–2–3–1 · zhang1 hui2 xiao3 shuo1

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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.

章回小說 · find source passages ↗ · 章回小说 · 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.

noun

zhanghui-style novel (style of traditional Chinese novel where each chapter is headed by a couplet giving the gist of its content)

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

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