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開天闢地

简开天辟地 · 繁開天闢地

Mandarin · pinyin kāi tiān pì dì

(lit.) to split heaven and earth apart (refers to the Pangu 盤古 Pán gǔ creation myth) (idiom)
(fig.) unprecedented; first of its kind

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Characters in this entry

開: kāi · open; initiate, begin, start
天: tiān · sky, heaven; god, celestial
闢: Look up this written character
地: de · dì · earth; soil, ground; region
开: kāi · open; initiate, begin, start
辟: pì · law, rule; open up, develop

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

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Mandarin tones

1–1–4–4 · kai1 tian1 pi4 di4

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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.

開天闢地 · find source passages ↗ · 开天辟地 · find source passages ↗

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Rime Cantonese 粵拼

hoi1 tin1 pik1 dei6

Cantonese word readings for 開天闢地. 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) creation of the world; dawn of heaven
(figurative) heroic; first of its kind

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

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