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文山会海

wén shān huì hǎidictionary entry
DEFINITION CC-CEDICT
a mountain of paperwork and a sea of meetings (idiom)
Sources & editorial notes

Reference definitions: CC-CEDICT contributors and MDBG, CC BY-SA 4.0. Source release 2026-10-27T01:55:52Z. Imported 2026-10-27. Definition wording and meaning order are retained. Recognized pronunciation references are displayed with tone marks; the original source record is available below.

Source record: cd-49e158e8c8f3a724. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

文山會海 文山会海 [wen2 shan1 hui4 hai3] /a mountain of paperwork and a sea of meetings (idiom)/

Reference definitions and teaching material have separate provenance.

Reference information

The definitions above are from CC-CEDICT. Examples and usage notes are available on selected entries.

Character information

View the individual characters. Their meanings do not necessarily explain the meaning of the whole word.

Other forms in these source records: 文山會海

  • 文
    wén

    language / culture / writing / formal / literary / gentle / (old) classifier for coins / Kangxi radical 67

    Wén

    surname Wen

  • 山
    shān

    mountain / hill (CL:座[zuò]) / (coll.) small bundle of straw for silkworms to spin cocoons on

    Shān

    surname Shan

  • 会
    huì

    can / to have the skill / to know how to / to be likely to / to be sure to / to meet / to get together / meeting / gathering / (suffix) union / group / association / (bound form) a moment (Taiwan pr. [huǐ])

    kuài

    (bound form) to reckon accounts

  • 海
    hǎi

    ocean / sea / CL:個|个[gè],片[piàn] / great number of people or things / (dialect) numerous

    Hǎi

    surname Hai

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.