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薑是老的辣

简姜是老的辣 · 繁薑是老的辣

Mandarin · pinyin jiāng shì lǎo de là

see 薑還是老的辣 jiāng hái shì lǎo de là

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Characters in this entry

薑: Look up this written character
是: shì · indeed, yes, right; to be; demonstrative pronoun, this, that
老: lǎo · old, aged; experienced; Kangxi radical 125
的: de · possessive, adjectival suffix
辣: là · peppery, pungent, hot; cruel
姜: jiāng · surname; ginger

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

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Mandarin tones

1–4–3–5–4 · jiang1 shi4 lao3 de5 la4

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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.

薑是老的辣 · find source passages ↗ · 姜是老的辣 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

goeng1 si6 lou5 dik1 laat6

Cantonese word readings for 薑是老的辣. 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.

proverb

The older the person is, the more seasoned (wiser or more treacherous) they are.

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

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