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縱虎歸山

简纵虎归山 · 繁縱虎歸山

Mandarin · pinyin zòng hǔ guī shān

lit. to let the tiger return to the mountain; fig. to store up future calamities

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Characters in this entry

縱: Look up this written character
虎: hǔ · tiger; brave, fierce; surname
歸: Look up this written character
山: shān · mountain, hill, peak
纵: zòng · indulge in, give free reign to
归: guī · return; return to, revert to

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

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Mandarin tones

4–3–1–1 · zong4 hu3 gui1 shan1

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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.

縱虎歸山 · find source passages ↗ · 纵虎归山 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

zung3 fu2 gwai1 saan1

Cantonese word readings for 縱虎歸山. 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.

verb

(figurative) to let the genie out of the bottle; to store up for future calamities

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

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