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紅杏出牆

简红杏出墙 · 繁紅杏出牆

Mandarin · pinyin hóng xìng chū qiáng

lit. the red apricot tree leans over the garden wall (idiom)
fig. a wife having an illicit lover

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Characters in this entry

紅: hóng · red, vermillion; blush, flush
杏: xìng · apricot; almond
出: chū · go out, send out; stand; produce
牆: Look up this written character
红: hóng · red, vermillion; blush, flush
墙: qiáng · wall

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

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Mandarin tones

2–4–1–2 · hong2 xing4 chu1 qiang2

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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.

紅杏出牆 · find source passages ↗ · 红杏出墙 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

hung4 hang6 ceot1 coeng4

Cantonese word readings for 紅杏出牆. 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

(of a wife) to have an affair; to cheat on her husband

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

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