项 庄 舞 剑

Xiàng Zhuāng wǔ jiàndictionary entry

lit. Xiang Zhuang performs the sword dance, but his mind is set on Liu Bang 劉邦|刘邦[Liú Bāng] (idiom, refers to plot to kill Liu Bang during the Hongmen feast 鴻門宴|鸿门宴[Hóng mén yàn] in 206 BC) / fig. an elaborate deception hiding malicious intent

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-c684009b9f51ba7b. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

項莊舞劍 项庄舞剑 [Xiang4 Zhuang1 wu3 jian4] /lit. Xiang Zhuang performs the sword dance, but his mind is set on Liu Bang 劉邦|刘邦[Liu2 Bang1] (idiom, refers to plot to kill Liu Bang during the Hongmen feast 鴻門宴|鸿门宴[Hong2 men2 yan4] in 206 BC)/fig. an elaborate deception hiding malicious intent/

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: 項莊舞劍

项
xiàng
back of neck / item / thing / term (in a mathematical formula) / sum (of money) / classifier for principles, items, clauses, tasks, research projects etc
Xiàng
surname Xiang
庄
zhuāng
farmstead / village / manor / place of business / banker (in a gambling game) / grave or solemn / holdings of a landlord (in imperial China)
Zhuāng
surname Zhuang
舞
wǔ
to dance / to wield / to brandish
剑
jiàn
double-edged sword / CL:口[kǒu],把[bǎ] / classifier for blows of a sword

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.