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鴻門宴

简鸿门宴 · 繁鴻門宴

Mandarin · pinyin Hóng mén yàn

Hongmen feast
(fig.) banquet set up with the aim of murdering a guest
refers to a famous episode in 206 BC when future Han emperor Liu Bang 劉邦 Liú Bāng escaped attempted murder by his rival Xiang Yu 項羽 Xiàng Yǔ

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Characters in this entry

鴻: Look up this written character
門: mén · gate, door, entrance, opening; Kangxi radical 169
宴: yàn · to entertain, feast; a feast, banquet
鸿: hóng · species of wild swan; vast
门: mén · gate, door, entrance, opening

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

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Mandarin tones

2–2–4 · Hong2 men2 yan4

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Read this spelling in Classical texts

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

hung4 mun4 jin3

Cantonese word readings for 鴻門宴. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

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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

social gathering (e.g. a party or meeting) with conspiracy against its guest; malicious invitation; trap

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

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