青出於藍而勝於藍

简 青出于蓝而胜于蓝 · 繁 青出於藍而勝於藍
Mandarin · pinyin qīng chū yú lán ér shèng yú lán

Meanings

  1. lit. the color blue is made out of indigo but is more vivid than indigo (idiom)
  2. fig. the student surpasses the master
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Characters in this entry

青
qīng · blue, green; young; Kangxi radical 174
出
chū · go out, send out; stand; produce
於
yú · yū · in, at, on; interjection alas!
藍
Look up this written character
而
ér · and; and then; and yet; but; Kangxi radical 126
勝
shèng · victory; excel, be better than
于
yú · in, on, at; go to; surname
蓝
lán · blue; indigo plant; surname
胜
shèng · victory; excel, be better than
Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

1–1–2–2–2–4–2–2 · qing1 chu1 yu2 lan2 er2 sheng4 yu2 lan2

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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.

青出於藍而勝於藍 · find source passages ↗ · 青出于蓝而胜于蓝 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

cing1 ceot1 jyu1 laam4 ji4 sing3 jyu1 laam4

Cantonese word readings for 青出於藍而勝於藍. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

CanCLID contributors · CC BY 4.0 · source & license · Data pack

青出於藍而勝於藍 · qing1 chu1 yu2 lan2 er2 sheng4 yu2 lan2
CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG · edition 2026-10-13 · source line 117,682
Original dictionary · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source & transformation details
Exact source record青出於藍而勝於藍 青出于蓝而胜于蓝 [qing1 chu1 yu2 lan2 er2 sheng4 yu2 lan2] /lit. the color blue is made out of indigo but is more vivid than indigo (idiom)/fig. the student surpasses the master/