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藏污納垢

简藏污纳垢 · 繁藏污納垢

Mandarin · pinyin cáng wū nà gòu

to hide dirt, to conceal corruption (idiom); to shelter evil people and accept wrongdoing
aiding and abetting wicked deeds

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Characters in this entry

藏: cáng · hide, conceal; hoard, store up
污: wū · filthy, dirty, impure, polluted
納: Look up this written character
垢: gòu · dirt, filth, stains; dirty
纳: nà · admit, take, receive, accept

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

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Mandarin tones

2–1–4–4 · cang2 wu1 na4 gou4

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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.

藏污納垢 · find source passages ↗ · 藏污纳垢 · find source passages ↗

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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 shelter evil people and countenance evil practices

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

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