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藥食同源

简药食同源 · 繁藥食同源

Mandarin · pinyin yào shí tóng yuán

lit. food and medicine come from the same source (idiom)
fig. there is no clear-cut distinction between food and medicine

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Characters in this entry

藥: Look up this written character
食: shí · eat; meal; food; Kangxi radical 184
同: tóng · same, similar; together with
源: yuán · spring; source, head; surname
药: yào · leaf of Dahurian angelica plant; medicine

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

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Mandarin tones

4–2–2–2 · yao4 shi2 tong2 yuan2

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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.

藥食同源 · find source passages ↗ · 药食同源 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

joek6 sik6 tung4 jyun4

Cantonese word readings for 藥食同源. 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

(traditional Chinese medicine) medicines and food share the same origin (and therefore some food may have medicinal effects)

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

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