事急馬行田

Chinese

		matter; thing; item matter; thing; item; work; affair	hurried; worried	horse; surname	to go; to do; capable to go; to do; capable; all right; competent; OK; to travel; temporary; to walk; will do; behaviour; conduct; a row; profession; professional	field; farm
trad. (事急馬行田)		事	急	馬	行	田
simp. (事急马行田)		事	急	马	行	田
Literally: “the horse moves like the character 田 (tián) in an emergency”.

Etymology

In xiangqi, the horse can only move like the character 日 on the chessboard. A horse moving like the character 田 violates the rule.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): shì jí mǎ xíng tián

  (Zhuyin): ㄕˋ ㄐㄧˊ ㄇㄚˇ ㄒㄧㄥˊ ㄊㄧㄢˊ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): si⁶ gap¹ maa⁵ haang⁴ tin⁴

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: shì jí mǎ xíng tián
    • Zhuyin: ㄕˋ ㄐㄧˊ ㄇㄚˇ ㄒㄧㄥˊ ㄊㄧㄢˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: shìh jí mǎ síng tián
    • Wade–Giles: shih⁴ chi² ma³ hsing² tʻien²
    • Yale: shr̀ jí mǎ syíng tyán
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: shyh jyi maa shyng tyan
    • Palladius: ши цзи ма син тянь (ši czi ma sin tjanʹ)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ʂʐ̩⁵¹ t͡ɕi³⁵ mä²¹⁴⁻²¹ ɕiŋ³⁵ tʰi̯ɛn³⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: si⁶ gap¹ maa⁵ haang⁴ tin⁴
    • Yale: sih gāp máh hàahng tìhn
    • Cantonese Pinyin: si⁶ gap⁷ maa⁵ haang⁴ tin⁴
    • Guangdong Romanization: xi⁶ geb¹ ma⁵ hang⁴ tin⁴
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /siː²² kɐp̚⁵ maː¹³ haːŋ²¹ tʰiːn²¹/

Idiom

事急馬行田

1. to take extraordinary actions in an emergency