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苦海茫茫

Mandarin · pinyin kǔ hǎi máng máng

sea of bitterness is vast (idiom)

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Characters in this entry

苦: kǔ · bitter; hardship, suffering
海: hǎi · sea, ocean; maritime
茫: máng · vast, boundless, widespread

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

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Mandarin tones

3–3–2–2 · ku3 hai3 mang2 mang2

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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 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

fu2 hoi2 mong4 mong4

Cantonese word readings for 苦海茫茫. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

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