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順藤摸瓜

简顺藤摸瓜 · 繁順藤摸瓜

Mandarin · pinyin shùn téng mō guā

lit. to follow the vine to get to the melon
to track sth following clues

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Characters in this entry

順: Look up this written character
藤: téng · rattan, cane; creeper plant
摸: mō · gently touch with hand; caress
瓜: guā · melon, gourd, cucumber; Kangxi radical 97
顺: shùn · obey, submit to, go along with

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

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Mandarin tones

4–2–1–1 · shun4 teng2 mo1 gua1

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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.

phrase

(idiomatic) to follow the clues to get to the bottom of a matter or to thoroughly inquire into a matter

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

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