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海内存知己，天涯若比邻

hǎi nèi cún zhī jǐ , tiān yá ruò bǐ líndictionary entry
DEFINITION CC-CEDICT
close friend in a distant land, far-flung realms as next door / close in spirit although far away
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-fe0f5cb82284265c. Source SHA-256: bbc4b27f26bee1a262f4d7939667a040c7857c7fc0200a2fa7a86d3352a09eae.

Original source entry:

海內存知己，天涯若比鄰 海内存知己，天涯若比邻 [hai3 nei4 cun2 zhi1 ji3 , tian1 ya2 ruo4 bi3 lin2] /close friend in a distant land, far-flung realms as next door/close in spirit although far away/

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: 海內存知己，天涯若比鄰

  • 海
    hǎi

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

    Hǎi

    surname Hai

  • 内
    nèi

    inside / inner / internal / within / interior

  • 存
    cún

    to exist / to deposit / to store / to keep / to survive

  • 知
    zhī

    to know / to be aware

  • 己
    jǐ

    self / oneself / sixth of the ten Heavenly Stems 十天干[shí tiān gān] / sixth in order / letter "F" or Roman "VI" in list "A, B, C", or "I, II, III" etc / hexa

  • 天
    tiān

    day / sky / heaven

  • 涯
    yá

    border / horizon / shore

  • 若
    rě

    used in 般若[bō rě] / used in 蘭若|兰若[lán rě]

    ruò

    to seem / like / as / if

  • 比
    bī

    See the full entry for source details.

    bǐ

    to compare / (followed by a noun and adjective) more {adj.} than {noun} / ratio / to gesture / (Taiwan pr. [bì] in some compounds derived from Classical Chinese)

    Bǐ

    Belgium / Belgian / abbr. for 比利時|比利时[Bǐ lì shí]

  • 邻
    lín

    neighbor / adjacent / close to

Reference definitions from CC-CEDICT.