蚍蜉撼大樹
Chinese
| shake; to incite | big; great; huge big; great; huge; large; major; wide; deep; oldest; eldest; doctor |
tree | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| trad. (蚍蜉撼大樹) | 蚍蜉 | 撼 | 大 | 樹 | |
| simp. (蚍蜉撼大树) | 蚍蜉 | 撼 | 大 | 树 | |
| Literally: “a giant ant shaking a big tree”. | |||||
Etymology
Coined by Han Yu in his poem To Zhang Ji: A Playful Reproach:
- 蚍蜉撼大樹，可笑不自量。 [Literary Chinese, trad.]
- From: c. 816 or 798, 韓愈,《調張籍》
- Pífú hàn dàshù, kěxiào bùzìliàng. [Pinyin]
- How ridiculous are those big ants / That conspire to shake the gigantic tree.
蚍蜉撼大树，可笑不自量。 [Literary Chinese, simp.]
Pronunciation
- Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)+
- Hanyu Pinyin: pífúhàndàshù
- Zhuyin: ㄆㄧˊ ㄈㄨˊ ㄏㄢˋ ㄉㄚˋ ㄕㄨˋ
- Tongyong Pinyin: pífúhàndàshù
- Wade–Giles: pʻi2-fu2-han4-ta4-shu4
- Yale: pí-fú-hàn-dà-shù
- Gwoyeu Romatzyh: pyifwuhanndahshuh
- Palladius: пифуханьдашу (pifuxanʹdašu)
- Sinological IPA (key): /pʰi³⁵ fu³⁵ xän⁵¹⁻⁵³ tä⁵¹⁻⁵³ ʂu⁵¹/
- (Standard Chinese)+
- Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)+
- Jyutping: pei4 fau4 ham6 daai6 syu6
- Yale: pèih fàuh hahm daaih syuh
- Cantonese Pinyin: pei4 fau4 ham6 daai6 sy6
- Guangdong Romanization: péi4 feo4 hem6 dai6 xu6
- Sinological IPA (key): /pʰei̯²¹ fɐu̯²¹ hɐm²² taːi̯²² syː²²/
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)+
Idiom
蚍蜉撼大樹