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萍水相逢

Mandarin · pinyin píng shuǐ xiāng féng

strangers coming together by chance (idiom)

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Characters in this entry

萍: píng · duckweed; wandering, traveling
水: shuǐ · water, liquid, lotion, juice
相: xiāng · mutual, reciprocal, each other
逢: féng · come upon, happen meet; flatter

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

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Mandarin tones

2–3–1–2 · ping2 shui3 xiang1 feng2

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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 · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

ping4 seoi2 soeng1 fung4

Cantonese word readings for 萍水相逢. 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 meet by chance

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

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