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閼氏

简阏氏 · 繁閼氏

Mandarin · pinyin yān zhī

formal wife of a Xiongnu chief during the Han Dynasty (206 BC-220 AD)

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Characters in this entry

閼: Look up this written character
氏: shì · clan, family; mister
阏: yān · block, obstruct, stop up

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

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Mandarin tones

1–1 · yan1 zhi1

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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.

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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.

noun

(historical) wife of a Xiongnu chief

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

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