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Chinese/Dictionary entry

下里巴人

xià lǐ bā réndictionary entry
DEFINITION CC-CEDICT
folk songs of the state of Chu 楚國|楚国[Chǔ guó] / popular art forms (contrasted with 陽春白雪|阳春白雪[yáng chūn bái xuě], highbrow art forms)
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-a63529d73c7f7d9c. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

下里巴人 下里巴人 [xia4 li3 ba1 ren2] /folk songs of the state of Chu 楚國|楚国[Chu3 guo2]/popular art forms (contrasted with 陽春白雪|阳春白雪[yang2 chun1 bai2 xue3], highbrow art forms)/

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.

  • 下
    xià

    down / downwards / below / lower / later / next (week etc) / second (of two parts) / to decline / to go down / to arrive at (a decision, conclusion etc) / measure word to show the frequency of an action

  • 里
    lǐ

    lining / interior / inside / internal / also written 裏|里[lǐ] / li, ancient measure of length, approx. 500 m / neighborhood / ancient administrative unit of 25 families / (Tw) borough, administrative unit between the township 鎮|镇[zhèn] and neighborhood 鄰|邻[lín] levels

    Lǐ

    surname Li

  • 巴
    bā

    to long for / to wish / to cling to / to stick to / sth that sticks / close to / next to / spread open / informal abbr. for bus 巴士[bā shì] / bar (unit of pressure) / nominalizing suffix on certain nouns, such as 尾巴[wěi ba], tail

    Bā

    Ba, a state during the Zhou dynasty (in present-day Chongqing and the eastern part of Sichuan) / the east of Sichuan and Chongqing Municipality / surname Ba / (bound form) abbr. for 巴勒斯坦[Bā lè sī tǎn] (Palestine), 巴基斯坦[Bā jī sī tǎn] (Pakistan) or 巴西[Bā xī] (Brazil)

  • 人

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.