蝸角之爭

Chinese

		land snail	horn; angle; role horn; angle; role; actor; contend; horn-shaped; Chinese musical note	's; him/her/it; this	struggle; fight
trad. (蝸角之爭)		蝸	角	之	爭
simp. (蜗角之争)		蜗	角	之	争
Literally: “struggle between the snail horns”.

Etymology

From Zhuangzi:

戴晉人曰：「有所謂蝸者，君知之乎？」曰：「然。」「有國於蝸之左角者曰觸氏，有國於蝸之右角者曰蠻氏，時相與爭地而戰，伏屍數萬，逐北旬有五日而後反。」 [Classical Chinese, trad.]

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戴晋人曰：「有所谓蜗者，君知之乎？」曰：「然。」「有国于蜗之左角者曰触氏，有国于蜗之右角者曰蛮氏，时相与争地而战，伏尸数万，逐北旬有五日而后反。」 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: Zhuangzi, circa 3^rd – 2^nd centuries BCE

Dài Jìnrén yuē: “Yǒu suǒwèi wō zhě, jūn zhī zhī hū?” Yuē: “Rán.” “yǒu guó yú wō zhī zuǒ jiǎo zhě yuē Chù shì, yǒu guó yú wō zhī yòu jiǎo zhě yuē Mán shì, shí xiàngyǔ zhēng dì ér zhàn, fú shī shùwàn, zhú běi xún yǒu wǔ rì ér hòu fǎn.” [Pinyin]

Dai Jinren said, "There is a creature called the snail—does Your Majesty know it?"
"Yes."
"On top of its left horn is a kingdom called Buffet, and on top of its right horn is a kingdom called Maul. At times they quarrel over territory and go to war, strewing the field with corpses by the ten thousands, the victor pursuing the vanquished for half a month before returning home."

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): wōjiǎozhīzhēng, guājiǎozhīzhēng

  (Zhuyin): ㄨㄛ ㄐㄧㄠˇ ㄓ ㄓㄥ, ㄍㄨㄚ ㄐㄧㄠˇ ㄓ ㄓㄥ

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese, Mainland)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: wōjiǎozhīzhēng
    • Zhuyin: ㄨㄛ ㄐㄧㄠˇ ㄓ ㄓㄥ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: wojiǎojhihjheng
    • Wade–Giles: wo¹-chiao³-chih¹-chêng¹
    • Yale: wō-jyǎu-jr̄-jēng
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: uojeaujyjeng
    • Palladius: воцзяочжичжэн (voczjaočžičžɛn)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /wɔ⁵⁵ t͡ɕi̯ɑʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹ ʈ͡ʂʐ̩⁵⁵ ʈ͡ʂɤŋ⁵⁵/
      
  • (Standard Chinese, Taiwan)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: guājiǎozhīzhēng
    • Zhuyin: ㄍㄨㄚ ㄐㄧㄠˇ ㄓ ㄓㄥ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: guajiǎojhihjheng
    • Wade–Giles: kua¹-chiao³-chih¹-chêng¹
    • Yale: gwā-jyǎu-jr̄-jēng
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: guajeaujyjeng
    • Palladius: гуацзяочжичжэн (guaczjaočžičžɛn)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ku̯ä⁵⁵ t͡ɕi̯ɑʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹ ʈ͡ʂʐ̩⁵⁵ ʈ͡ʂɤŋ⁵⁵/

Idiom

蝸角之爭

1. petty squabble; quarrel over trivial matters

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (蝸角之爭):

• → Korean: 와각지쟁(蝸角之爭) (wagakjijaeng)

→ Japanese: 蝸(か)牛(ぎゅう)角(かく)上(じょう)の争(あらそ)い (kagyūkakujō no arasoi) (calque)

Korean

Hanja in this term
蝸	角	之	爭

Noun

蝸角之爭 • (wagakjijaeng) (hangeul 와각지쟁)

1. Hanja form^? of 와각지쟁 (“petty squabble”).