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金蘭之交

简金兰之交 · 繁金蘭之交

Mandarin · pinyin jīn lán zhī jiāo

intimate friendship (idiom)

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Characters in this entry

金: jīn · gold; metals in general; money; Kangxi radical 167
蘭: Look up this written character
之: zhī · marks preceding phrase as modifier of following phrase; it, him her, them; go to
交: jiāo · mix; intersect; exchange, communicate; deliver
兰: lán · orchid; elegant, graceful

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

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Mandarin tones

1–2–1–1 · jin1 lan2 zhi1 jiao1

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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.

金蘭之交 · find source passages ↗ · 金兰之交 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

gam1 laan4 zi1 gaau1

Cantonese word readings for 金蘭之交. 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) sworn brotherhood; intimate friendship

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

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