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西北

Mandarin · pinyin xī běi#

northwest

Mandarin · pinyin Xī běi#

Northwest China (Shaanxi, Gansu, Qinghai, Ningxia, Xinjiang)

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Characters in this entry

西: xī · west(ern); westward; occident; Kangxi radical 146
北: běi · north; northern; northward

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

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Mandarin tones

1–3 · xi1 bei3

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2character links1same-tone record

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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 · 4 senses · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

sai1 bak1

Cantonese word readings for 西北. 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.

noun

northwest
(Hokkien, Puxian Min) summer shower; convectional rain

name

(～地區) Northwest China (a region of China; consisting of Shaanxi, Gansu, Qinghai, Ningxia and Xinjiang)
(～大行政區, ～區) (historical) Northwest China (a former greater administrative region of China from 1949 to 1954, consisting of Xi'an, Shaanxi, Gansu, Qinghai, Ningxia and Xinjiang)

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

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