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赤手空拳

Mandarin · pinyin chì shǒu kōng quán

(idiom) with one's bare hands (unarmed – also figuratively: without assistance)

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Characters in this entry

赤: chì · red; bare; Kangxi radical 155
手: shǒu · hand
空: kōng · empty, hollow, bare, deserted
拳: quán · fist; various forms of boxing

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

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Mandarin tones

4–3–1–2 · chi4 shou3 kong1 quan2

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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 · 2 senses · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

cek3 sau2 hung1 kyun4

Cantonese word readings for 赤手空拳. 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

(idiomatic) bare-handed and unarmed
(by extension) without any reliance; without anything to rely on

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

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