Chengyu chain game with a 30,000+ idiom dictionary (full 汉语成语大词典 coverage). Start with any idiom; the computer continues with one whose first character matches your last.
- Runs locally
- Category Text
- Best for Removing repetitive cleanup work from everyday writing and operations.
What this tool does
A pocket-sized chengyu (成语 chéngyǔ) chain game that runs entirely in your browser. You play a four-character idiom, the computer answers with one whose first character is the last character of yours, you answer back, the chain grows. Whoever runs out first loses. Built on a 30,000+ idiom library that mirrors the full 《汉语成语大词典》 — sourced from the public chinese-xinhua dataset, every entry verified to have a real pinyin (tone marks), plain-Chinese meaning, and a classical source citation where one exists. Three difficulty tiers: Easy (computer plays the most common idioms so you can keep up), Standard (mid-frequency replies that match your pace), and Hard (computer reaches for low-frequency literary picks that send you hunting). If you get stuck, the Hint button surfaces three idioms starting with the character you need. The bundled Search tab works as a full chengyu dictionary lookup by characters, pinyin, or meaning. Scoring is +10 per chain link, +20 for low-frequency picks, with a live timer and chain counter. 100% client-side — the 30,000-entry dataset loads once (~2.6 MB gzip) on first visit, then lives in the browser cache. No API call, no signup, no waiting. Built for Chinese learners drilling vocabulary, classroom teachers running warm-up games, families killing 20 minutes at the kitchen table, and content creators hunting for the perfect chengyu to anchor a script.
Tool details
- Input
- Text
- The page exposes text boxes, numeric controls, file pickers, or structured inputs depending on the tool.
- Output
- Live result
- The result area focuses on usable output, with copy, download, or preview actions when supported.
- Privacy
- Browser-side processing
- The main tool logic does not call an external API, so inputs normally stay in the current tab.
- Save / share
- No account required
- Open the page and use it; whether results survive refresh depends on the tool.
- Performance budget
- Initial JS <= 30 KB
- No WASM budget is declared, keeping the tool quick to open on mobile.
- Best fit
- Text · Student
- Category and role tags drive related tools, internal links, and quick fit checks.
How to use
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1. Input
Paste or drop your content into the tool panel.
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2. Process
Click the button. All processing is local in your browser.
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3. Copy / Download
Copy the result or download to disk in one click.
How Chengyu Chain Game fits into your work
Use it to clean, compare, reshape, or extract plain text before it goes into a document, CMS, spreadsheet, or prompt.
Text jobs
- Removing repetitive cleanup work from everyday writing and operations.
- Making text easier to compare, paste, publish, or feed into another tool.
- Working with content locally when the text is private or unfinished.
Text checks
- Scan for unintended whitespace, duplicate lines, and lost punctuation.
- For long text, test the first few lines before applying the whole change.
- Copy the final output only after checking the preview.
Good next steps
These links move the current task into a more complete workflow.
- 1 Chinese Name Generator Chinese name generator — meaningful Chinese names with pinyin, meaning, and stroke count. Open
- 2 Chinese Idiom Search 800+ everyday chengyu — pinyin, origin, usage. Open
- 3 Chinese Poetry Search Chinese classical poetry — 300+ hand-annotated Tang/Song/Yuan canon (唐诗宋词元曲) plus 80,000+ searchable Tang/Song/Shijing/Chuci poems on demand. Open
Real-world use cases
Chinese teacher running a 10-minute warm-up
Open the page on the classroom projector, set difficulty to Easy, play one round per row of students. Each student picks the next idiom, the class reads the pinyin and meaning together, the chain counter on screen keeps everyone honest. By the time you've finished a long chain, the students have seen 15-20 idioms with their real meaning — better than any flashcard drill.
HSK-5 / HSK-6 student drilling vocabulary
Start on Standard. Whenever the computer plays an idiom you don't recognize, click it to see the pinyin, meaning, and classical source. Build a personal review list out of the ones you missed. Twenty minutes a day for two weeks and your HSK-6 idiom recall goes from "I've seen this somewhere" to "I know what it means and roughly where it's from".
Family dinner game that actually beats short videos
On Easy or Standard, hand the phone around the table. Each person gets 30 seconds, no looking up the dictionary, you lose if you can't continue. Kids love it because the computer always answers fast, grandparents love it because it's an idiom game they actually remember playing in school. Twenty minutes melt without anyone reaching for a video feed.
Script writer hunting for the right four-character punch
You're writing a script and you want a chengyu starting with 风 that means "rapid change". Switch to the Search tab, search by character 风 and meaning "change", browse three or four results including 风云突变. Copy the one that fits, paste back into your draft. The bundled dictionary saves you a tab-switch to Baidu and you don't have to filter out the SEO junk pages.
Adult learner who plateaued at "I know the common 200"
Set difficulty to Hard. The computer deliberately picks low-frequency literary idioms — 折冲樽俎, 韦编三绝, 卧薪尝胆 in their original sense — and you have to come back with something equally rare. After three sessions you'll know which 60 chengyu you keep losing on, and that's exactly the right review list.
Common pitfalls
Mistaking modern internet phrases like 不明觉厉 for real chengyu — they're not in the standard 30k dictionary and will fail validation. Stick to entries that appear in 《汉语成语大词典》.
Trying to chain by tone-matching characters. The chain rule is about the literal Chinese character, not the pinyin — 同音 (different character) doesn't count.
Treating the difficulty levels as cosmetic. Hard genuinely plays low-frequency idioms; start there only if you're already comfortable with at least 500 standard chengyu.
Privacy
The 30k-entry chengyu dictionary is bundled as a static asset (~2.6 MB gzip) and loaded once into your browser cache; nothing about your gameplay is sent anywhere. Your chain history, hint clicks, and score live only in this tab — close the tab and it's gone.
FAQ
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