長袖善舞

Chinese

		long; length; forever long; length; forever; always; constantly; chief; head; elder; to grow; to develop	sleeve	good	to dance; to wield; to brandish
trad. (長袖善舞)		長	袖	善	舞
simp. (长袖善舞)		长	袖	善	舞
Literally: “long sleeves make a good dance”.

Etymology

鄙諺曰：「長袖善舞，多錢善賈。」此言多資之易為工也。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]

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鄙谚曰：「长袖善舞，多钱善贾。」此言多资之易为工也。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: Han Feizi, circa 2^nd century BCE

Bǐyàn yuē: “Cháng xiù shàn wǔ, duō qián shàn gǔ.” Cǐ yán duō zī zhī yì wèi gōng yě. [Pinyin]

There was a saying that “Long sleeves make a good dance, more money makes better business.” This means that if you have more resources, you can do things easier.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): chángxiùshànwǔ

  (Zhuyin): ㄔㄤˊ ㄒㄧㄡˋ ㄕㄢˋ ㄨˇ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): coeng⁴ zau⁶ sin⁶ mou⁵

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: chángxiùshànwǔ
    • Zhuyin: ㄔㄤˊ ㄒㄧㄡˋ ㄕㄢˋ ㄨˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: chángsiòushànwǔ
    • Wade–Giles: chʻang²-hsiu⁴-shan⁴-wu³
    • Yale: cháng-syòu-shàn-wǔ
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: charngshiowshannwuu
    • Palladius: чансюшаньу (čansjušanʹu)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ʈ͡ʂʰɑŋ³⁵ ɕi̯oʊ̯⁵¹⁻⁵³ ʂän⁵¹ u²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: coeng⁴ zau⁶ sin⁶ mou⁵
    • Yale: chèuhng jauh sihn móuh
    • Cantonese Pinyin: tsoeng⁴ dzau⁶ sin⁶ mou⁵
    • Guangdong Romanization: cêng⁴ zeo⁶ xin⁶ mou⁵
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sʰœːŋ²¹ t͡sɐu̯²² siːn²² mou̯¹³/

Idiom

長袖善舞

1. to have tricks up one’s sleeve and be likely to succeed
2. (of businesspeople or politicians) be able to make good use of one's connections