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貝

简贝 · 繁貝

Mandarin · pinyin bèi#

cowrie
shellfish
currency (archaic)

Mandarin · pinyin Bèi#

surname Bei

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Characters in this entry

貝: Look up this written character
贝: bèi · sea shell; money, currency

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

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Mandarin tones

4 · bei4

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Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.

Connected dictionary

1character link49same-tone records

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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.

貝 · find source passages ↗ · 贝 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 3 senses · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

bui3

Cantonese word readings for 貝. 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.

character

shellfish; cowrie
(obsolete on its own in Standard Chinese) money; currency
a surname

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

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