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簡言之

简简言之 · 繁簡言之

Mandarin · pinyin jiǎn yán zhī

in simple terms
to put things simply
briefly

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Characters in this entry

簡: Look up this written character
言: yán · words, speech; speak, say; Kangxi radical 149
之: zhī · marks preceding phrase as modifier of following phrase; it, him her, them; go to
简: jiǎn · simple, terse, succinct, a letter

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

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Mandarin tones

3–2–1 · jian3 yan2 zhi1

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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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Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

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

adv

in brief; in short; to put it in a nutshell; basically

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

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