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鬼使神差

Mandarin · pinyin guǐ shǐ shén chāi

demons and gods at work (idiom); unexplained event crying out for a supernatural explanation
curious coincidence

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Characters in this entry

鬼: guǐ · ghost; spirit of dead; devil; Kangxi radical 194; 23rd lunar mansion, determinative star θ Cancri
使: shǐ · cause, send on a mission, order; envoy, messenger, ambassador
神: shén · spirit, god, supernatural being
差: chà · chā · to differ; different, wrong; nearly, almost; an officer

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

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Mandarin tones

3–3–2–1 · gui3 shi3 shen2 chai1

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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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Compare dictionary sources 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

gwai2 si2 san4 caai1

Cantonese word readings for 鬼使神差. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

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