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紫河車

简紫河车 · 繁紫河車

Mandarin · pinyin zǐ hé chē

(TCM) dried human placenta (used as medicine)

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Characters in this entry

紫: zǐ · purple, violet; amethyst; surname
河: hé · river; stream; the Yellow River
車: chē · cart, vehicle; carry in a cart; Kangxi radical 159
车: chē · cart, vehicle; carry in cart

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

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Mandarin tones

3–2–1 · zi3 he2 che1

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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.

紫河車 · find source passages ↗ · 紫河车 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

zi2 ho4 ce1

Cantonese word readings for 紫河車. 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.

noun

(traditional Chinese medicine) dried human placenta (A substance used to treat yang deficiency.)

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

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