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點金成鐵

简点金成铁 · 繁點金成鐵

Mandarin · pinyin diǎn jīn chéng tiě

to transform gold into base metal (idiom); fig. to edit sb else's beautiful prose and ruin it

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Characters in this entry

點: diǎn · dot, speck, spot; point, degree
金: jīn · gold; metals in general; money; Kangxi radical 167
成: chéng · completed, finished, fixed
鐵: Look up this written character
点: diǎn · dot, speck, spot; point, degree
铁: tiě · iron; strong, solid, firm

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

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Mandarin tones

3–1–2–3 · dian3 jin1 cheng2 tie3

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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.

點金成鐵 · find source passages ↗ · 点金成铁 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

dim2 gam1 sing4 tit3

Cantonese word readings for 點金成鐵. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

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