月明星稀

Chinese

		moon; month	clear; bright; to understand clear; bright; to understand; next; the Ming dynasty	star; satellite; small amount	diluted; sparse
simp. and trad. (月明星稀)		月	明	星	稀

Etymology

From Duan Ge Xing by 曹操 (Cao Cao):

月明星稀，烏鵲南飛。繞樹三匝，何枝可依？ [Classical Chinese, trad.]

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月明星稀，乌鹊南飞。绕树三匝，何枝可依？ [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: 2nd–3rd century CE, 曹操 (Cao Cao), 短歌行

Yuèmíngxīngxī, wūquè nán fēi. Rào shù sān zā, hé zhī kě yī? [Pinyin]

The moon is bright and the stars are few, and southward the crows flew. Circling the tree thrice, on which branch can they perch?

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): yuèmíngxīngxī

  (Zhuyin): ㄩㄝˋ ㄇㄧㄥˊ ㄒㄧㄥ ㄒㄧ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): jyut⁶ ming⁴ sing¹ hei¹

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: yuèmíngxīngxī
    • Zhuyin: ㄩㄝˋ ㄇㄧㄥˊ ㄒㄧㄥ ㄒㄧ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: yuèmíngsingsi
    • Wade–Giles: yüeh⁴-ming²-hsing¹-hsi¹
    • Yale: ywè-míng-syīng-syī
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: yuehmingshingshi
    • Palladius: юэминсинси (jueminsinsi)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ɥɛ⁵¹ miŋ³⁵ ɕiŋ⁵⁵ ɕi⁵⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: jyut⁶ ming⁴ sing¹ hei¹
    • Yale: yuht mìhng sīng hēi
    • Cantonese Pinyin: jyt⁹ ming⁴ sing¹ hei¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: yud⁶ ming⁴ xing¹ héi¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /jyːt̚² mɪŋ²¹ sɪŋ⁵⁵ hei̯⁵⁵/

Idiom

月明星稀

1. the moon is bright while the stars are few