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百家争鸣

bǎi jiā zhēng míngdictionary entry
DEFINITION CC-CEDICT
a hundred schools of thought contend (idiom) / refers to the classical philosophic schools of the Warring States period 475-221 BC
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-750434762c9715fa. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

百家爭鳴 百家争鸣 [bai3 jia1 zheng1 ming2] /a hundred schools of thought contend (idiom); refers to the classical philosophic schools of the Warring States period 475-221 BC/

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: 百家爭鳴

  • 百
    bǎi

    hundred / numerous / all kinds of

    Bǎi

    surname Bai

  • 家
    jiā

    used in 傢伙|家伙[jiā huo] and 傢俱|家俱[jiā jù] / home / family / (polite) my (sister, uncle etc) / classifier for families or businesses / refers to the philosophical schools of pre-Han China / noun suffix for a specialist in some activity, such as a musician or revolutionary, corresponding to English -ist, -er, -ary or -ian / CL:個|个[gè]

  • 争
    zhēng

    to strive for / to vie for / to argue or debate / deficient or lacking (dialect) / how or what (literary)

  • 鸣
    míng

    to cry (of birds, animals and insects) / to make a sound / to voice (one's gratitude, grievance etc)

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.