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西子捧心

Mandarin · pinyin Xī zǐ pěng xīn

(lit.) Xishi clasps at her heart (idiom)
(fig.) a woman who is beautiful even when suffering the pangs of illness

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Characters in this entry

西: xī · west(ern); westward; occident; Kangxi radical 146
子: zǐ · offspring, child; fruit, seed of; first earthly branch
捧: pěng · hold up in two hands
心: xīn · heart; mind, intelligence; soul; 5th lunar mansion, determinative star α Scorpii (Antares)

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

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Mandarin tones

1–3–3–1 · Xi1 zi3 peng3 xin1

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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 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

sai1 zi2 pung2 sam1

Cantonese word readings for 西子捧心. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

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