兄弟如手足，妻子如衣服

Chinese

		brother; brethren; brothers and sisters brother; brethren; brothers and sisters; siblings	as (if); such as	hands and feet		wife; wife and child	as (if); such as	clothing; clothes; laundry clothing; clothes; laundry; upper outer garment; jacket; coat
trad. (兄弟如手足，妻子如衣服)		兄弟	如	手足	，	妻子	如	衣服
simp. #(兄弟如手足，妻子如衣服)		兄弟	如	手足	，	妻子	如	衣服
alternative forms		兄弟如手足，妻子似衣服 兄弟如手足，女人如衣服 兄弟如手足，女人似衣服 兄弟如手足，老婆如衣服 兄弟如手足，老婆似衣服

Etymology

Popularised by Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Chapter 15, where this ancient saying was quoted by Liu Bei. The concept of brethren being limb-like was preexisting; compare 兄弟手足.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): xiōngdì rú shǒuzú, qīzǐ rú yīfu

  (Zhuyin): ㄒㄩㄥ ㄉㄧˋ ㄖㄨˊ ㄕㄡˇ ㄗㄨˊ , ㄑㄧ ㄗˇ ㄖㄨˊ ㄧ ˙ㄈㄨ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): hing¹ dai⁶ jyu⁴ sau² zuk¹, cai¹ zi² jyu⁴ ji¹ fuk⁶

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: xiōngdì rú shǒuzú, qīzǐ rú yīfu
    • Zhuyin: ㄒㄩㄥ ㄉㄧˋ ㄖㄨˊ ㄕㄡˇ ㄗㄨˊ , ㄑㄧ ㄗˇ ㄖㄨˊ ㄧ ˙ㄈㄨ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: syongdì rú shǒuzú, cizǐh rú yifů
    • Wade–Giles: hsiung¹-ti⁴ ju² shou³-tsu², chʻi¹-tzŭ³ ju² i¹-fu⁵
    • Yale: syūng-dì rú shǒu-dzú-, chī-dž rú yī-fu
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: shiongdih ru shooutzwu, chitzyy ru i.fu
    • Palladius: сюнди жу шоуцзу, цицзы жу ифу (sjundi žu šouczu, ciczy žu ifu)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ɕi̯ʊŋ⁵⁵ ti⁵¹ ʐu³⁵ ʂoʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹ t͡su³⁵ t͡ɕʰi⁵⁵ t͡sz̩²¹⁴⁻²¹ ʐu³⁵ i⁵⁵ fu²/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: hing¹ dai⁶ jyu⁴ sau² zuk¹, cai¹ zi² jyu⁴ ji¹ fuk⁶
    • Yale: hīng daih yùh sáu jūk, chāi jí yùh yī fuhk
    • Cantonese Pinyin: hing¹ dai⁶ jy⁴ sau² dzuk⁷, tsai¹ dzi² jy⁴ ji¹ fuk⁹
    • Guangdong Romanization: hing¹ dei⁶ yu⁴ seo² zug¹, cei¹ ji² yu⁴ yi¹ fug⁶
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /hɪŋ⁵⁵ tɐi̯²² jyː²¹ sɐu̯³⁵ t͡sʊk̚⁵ t͡sʰɐi̯⁵⁵ t͡siː³⁵ jyː²¹ jiː⁵⁵ fʊk̚²/

Proverb

兄弟如手足，妻子如衣服

1. Brothers are like one's arms and legs, but wives and children (or women) are only like one's apparel (i.e. readily replaceable).

Descendants

• → Vietnamese: anh em như tay chân, vợ con như quần áo (calque) (and numerous similar expressions)