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閉關自守

简闭关自守 · 繁閉關自守

Mandarin · pinyin bì guān zì shǒu

close the country to international intercourse

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Characters in this entry

閉: Look up this written character
關: Look up this written character
自: zì · self, private, personal; from; Kangxi radical 132
守: shǒu · defend, protect, guard, conserve
闭: bì · shut, close; obstruct, block up
关: guān · frontier pass; close; relation

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

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Mandarin tones

4–1–4–3 · bi4 guan1 zi4 shou3

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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.

閉關自守 · find source passages ↗ · 闭关自守 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

bai3 gwaan1 zi6 sau2

Cantonese word readings for 閉關自守. 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) to close off the country to the outside world and conduct no trade or exchanges with other countries

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

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