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鐵樹開花

简铁树开花 · 繁鐵樹開花

Mandarin · pinyin tiě shù kāi huā

lit. the iron tree blooms (idiom)
a highly improbable or extremely rare occurrence

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Characters in this entry

鐵: Look up this written character
樹: shù · tree; plant; set up, establish
開: kāi · open; initiate, begin, start
花: huā · flower; blossoms
铁: tiě · iron; strong, solid, firm
树: shù · tree; plant; set up, establish
开: kāi · open; initiate, begin, start

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

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Mandarin tones

3–4–1–1 · tie3 shu4 kai1 hua1

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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.

鐵樹開花 · find source passages ↗ · 铁树开花 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

tit3 syu6 hoi1 faa1

Cantonese word readings for 鐵樹開花. 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) extremely rare or hard to succeed

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

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