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走馬燈

简走马灯 · 繁走馬燈

Mandarin · pinyin zǒu mǎ dēng

lantern with a carousel of paper horses rotating under convection, used at Lantern Festival 元宵節 Yuán xiāo jié
(fig.) revolving door; musical chairs (metaphor for people being shuffled around into different jobs)

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Characters in this entry

走: zǒu · walk, go on foot; run; leave; Kangxi radical 156
馬: Look up this written character
燈: dēng · lantern, lamp
马: mǎ · horse; surname; Kangxi radical 187
灯: dēng · lantern, lamp

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

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Mandarin tones

3–3–1 · zou3 ma3 deng1

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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.

走馬燈 · find source passages ↗ · 走马灯 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 3 senses · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

zau2 maa5 dang1

Cantonese word readings for 走馬燈. 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

lantern adorned with paper horses which revolve in a circle
(figurative) constant reshuffle of personnel
(informal) near-death experience (where all the scenes in one's lifetime are believed to replay in one's mind within a very short period of time)

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

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