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飛蛾撲火

简飞蛾扑火 · 繁飛蛾撲火

Mandarin · pinyin fēi é pū huǒ

the moth flies into the flame
fatal attraction

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Characters in this entry

飛: Look up this written character
蛾: é · moth
撲: Look up this written character
火: huǒ · fire, flame; burn; anger, rage
飞: fēi · fly; go quickly; dart; high
扑: pū · pound, beat, strike; attack

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

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Mandarin tones

1–2–1–3 · fei1 e2 pu1 huo3

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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.

飛蛾撲火 · find source passages ↗ · 飞蛾扑火 · find source passages ↗

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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

(figurative) to court self-destruction; to look for someone's own demise

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

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