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I'd like to know whether "食人" is used in Classical Chinese of the 先秦 period. I am not looking for "食人肉."

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in the book of mencius 孟子, chapter 梁惠王上:

此率獸而食人

roughly means

This is leading on beasts to devour men.

https://ctext.org/dictionary.pl?if=gb&id=12876#s10026702

in the same book, chapter 滕文公上:

治於人者食人,治人者食於人

roughly means

those who are governed by others support them; those who govern others are supported by them

https://ctext.org/dictionary.pl?if=gb&id=13261#s10030257

have fun :)

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  • Could you find more examples of "食人" used literally to mean "eat people"?
    – Apollyon
    Commented Aug 16, 2020 at 7:43

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