耳聽八方

Chinese

		ear	let; allow; listen let; allow; listen; hear; obey	eight points of the compass; all around; in all directions eight points of the compass; all around; in all directions; from every direction
trad. (耳聽八方)		耳	聽	八方
simp. (耳听八方)		耳	听	八方
Literally: “to keep an ear out for the eight directions (east, west, south, north, southeast, northeast, southwest, and northwest)”.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): ěrtīngbāfāng

  (Zhuyin): ㄦˇ ㄊㄧㄥ ㄅㄚ ㄈㄤ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): ji⁵ ting¹ baat³ fong¹, ji⁵ ting³ baat³ fong¹

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: ěrtīngbāfāng
    • Zhuyin: ㄦˇ ㄊㄧㄥ ㄅㄚ ㄈㄤ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: ěrtingbafang
    • Wade–Giles: êrh³-tʻing¹-pa¹-fang¹
    • Yale: ěr-tīng-bā-fāng
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: eeltingbafang
    • Palladius: эртинбафан (ertinbafan)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ˀɤɻ²¹⁴⁻²¹ tʰiŋ⁵⁵ pä⁵⁵ fɑŋ⁵⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: ji⁵ ting¹ baat³ fong¹, ji⁵ ting³ baat³ fong¹
    • Yale: yíh tīng baat fōng, yíh ting baat fōng
    • Cantonese Pinyin: ji⁵ ting¹ baat⁸ fong¹, ji⁵ ting³ baat⁸ fong¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: yi⁵ ting¹ bad³ fong¹, yi⁵ ting³ bad³ fong¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /jiː¹³ tʰɪŋ⁵⁵ paːt̚³ fɔːŋ⁵⁵/, /jiː¹³ tʰɪŋ³³ paːt̚³ fɔːŋ⁵⁵/

Idiom

耳聽八方

1. to keep one's ear to the ground; alert; watchful; vigilant

Derived terms

• 眼觀六路，耳聽八方／眼观六路，耳听八方 (yǎn guān liùlù, ěr tīng bāfāng)
• 眼觀四處，耳聽八方／眼观四处，耳听八方 (yǎn guān sìchù, ěr tīng bāfāng)