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臥虎藏龍

简卧虎藏龙 · 繁臥虎藏龍

Mandarin · pinyin wò hǔ cáng lóng#

lit. hidden dragon, crouching tiger (idiom)
fig. talented individuals in hiding
concealed talent

Mandarin · pinyin Wò hǔ Cáng lóng#

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, movie by Ang Lee 李安 Lǐ Ān

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Characters in this entry

臥: Look up this written character
虎: hǔ · tiger; brave, fierce; surname
藏: cáng · hide, conceal; hoard, store up
龍: Look up this written character
卧: wò · lie down; crouch
龙: lóng · dragon; symbolic of emperor

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

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Mandarin tones

4–3–2–2 · wo4 hu3 cang2 long2

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Connected dictionary

4character links1same-tone record

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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.

臥虎藏龍 · find source passages ↗ · 卧虎藏龙 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

ngo6 fu2 cong4 lung4

Cantonese word readings for 臥虎藏龍. 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

(idiomatic) to have many hidden talented individuals

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

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