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近代

Mandarin · pinyin jìn dài

the not-very-distant past
modern times, excluding recent decades
(in the context of Chinese history) the period from the Opium Wars until the May 4th Movement (mid-19th century to 1919)
capitalist times (pre-1949)

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Characters in this entry

近: jìn · near, close; approach; intimate
代: dài · replace, replacement (of person or generation); era, generation

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

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Mandarin tones

4–4 · jin4 dai4

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Rime Cantonese 粵拼

gan6 doi6

Cantonese word readings for 近代. 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

near-modern times; recent era

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

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