陰陽合同

简 阴阳合同 · 繁 陰陽合同
Mandarin · pinyin yīn yáng hé tóng

Meanings

  1. a deal where the parties collude to sign an under-the-table "yin contract" 陰合同 as well as an ostensibly genuine "yang contract" 陽合同 in order to deceive authorities
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Characters in this entry

陰
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陽
yáng · the active, male principle in Chinese philosophy (yang); light; sun
合
hé · combine, unite, join; gather
同
tóng · same, similar; together with
阴
yīn · 'female' principle; dark; secret
阳
yáng · 'male' principle; light; sun
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Mandarin tones

1–2–2–2 · yin1 yang2 he2 tong2

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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.

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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

  1. “yin-yang contracts”, i.e. two different contracts for the same work, where only the fake version with a lower payment is disclosed to tax authorities, allowing the person to evade taxes

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

Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · source & license · Data pack

陰陽合同 · yin1 yang2 he2 tong2
CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG · edition 2026-10-13 · source line 115,181
Original dictionary · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source & transformation details
Exact source record陰陽合同 阴阳合同 [yin1 yang2 he2 tong2] /a deal where the parties collude to sign an under-the-table "yin contract" 陰合同|阴合同 as well as an ostensibly genuine "yang contract" 陽合同|阳合同 in order to deceive authorities/