紫砂

Mandarin · pinyin zǐ shā

Meanings

  1. a type of clay found in the region of Yixing 宜興 Yí xīng, used to make Yixing stoneware, with its distinctive russet or dark purple coloring
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Characters in this entry

紫
zǐ · purple, violet; amethyst; surname
砂
shā · sand; pebbles, gravel; gritty
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

3–1 · zi3 sha1

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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 · 2 senses

Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

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

noun

  1. zisha; Yixing clay

verb

  1. (Mainland China, Internet slang) alternative form of 自杀 (zìshā, “to suicide”)

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

Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack

紫砂 · zi3 sha1
CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG · edition 2026-10-13 · source line 85,298
Original dictionary · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source & transformation details
Exact source record紫砂 紫砂 [zi3 sha1] /a type of clay found in the region of Yixing 宜興|宜兴[Yi2 xing1], used to make Yixing stoneware, with its distinctive russet or dark purple coloring/