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行雲流水

简行云流水 · 繁行雲流水

Mandarin · pinyin xíng yún liú shuǐ

lit. moving clouds and flowing water (idiom)
fig. very natural and flowing style of calligraphy, writing, etc
natural and unforced

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Characters in this entry

行: xíng · go; walk; move, travel; circulate; Kangxi radical 144
雲: yún · clouds; Yunnan province
流: liú · flow, circulate, drift; class
水: shuǐ · water, liquid, lotion, juice
云: yún · say, speak; clouds

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

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Mandarin tones

2–2–2–3 · xing2 yun2 liu2 shui3

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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.

行雲流水 · find source passages ↗ · 行云流水 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

haang4 wan4 lau4 seoi2

Cantonese word readings for 行雲流水. 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

(of calligraphy, writing, etc.) very smooth and natural; natural and unforced style

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

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