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閉關鎖國

简闭关锁国 · 繁閉關鎖國

Mandarin · pinyin bì guān suǒ guó

to close the passes and seal off the country
to close a country to exclude foreign contact

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Characters in this entry

閉: Look up this written character
關: Look up this written character
鎖: Look up this written character
國: Look up this written character
闭: bì · shut, close; obstruct, block up
关: guān · frontier pass; close; relation
锁: suǒ · lock, padlock; shackles, chains
国: guó · nation, country, nation-state

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

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Mandarin tones

4–1–3–2 · bi4 guan1 suo3 guo2

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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.

閉關鎖國 · find source passages ↗ · 闭关锁国 · find source passages ↗

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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 cut off one's country from the outside world

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

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