取長補短

See also: 取长补短

Chinese

		to take; to get; to choose to take; to get; to choose; to fetch	long; length; forever long; length; forever; always; constantly; chief; head; elder; to grow; to develop	to repair; to patch; to mend to repair; to patch; to mend; to make up for; to fill (a vacancy); to supplement	lack; short
trad. (取長補短)		取	長	補	短
simp. (取长补短)		取	长	补	短

Etymology

From Mencius (《孟子·滕文公上》):

今滕，絕長補短，將五十里也，猶可以為善國。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]

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今滕，绝长补短，将五十里也，犹可以为善国。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: Mencius, c. 4^th century BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

Jīn téng, jué cháng bǔ duǎn, jiāng wǔshí lǐ yě, yóu kěyǐ wèi shàn guó. [Pinyin]

Now, Teng, taking its length with its breadth, will amount, I suppose, to fifty li. It is small, but still sufficient to make a good State.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): qǔchángbǔduǎn

  (Zhuyin): ㄑㄩˇ ㄔㄤˊ ㄅㄨˇ ㄉㄨㄢˇ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): ceoi² coeng⁴ bou² dyun²

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: qǔchángbǔduǎn [Phonetic: qǔchángbúduǎn]
    • Zhuyin: ㄑㄩˇ ㄔㄤˊ ㄅㄨˇ ㄉㄨㄢˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: cyǔchángbǔduǎn
    • Wade–Giles: chʻü³-chʻang²-pu³-tuan³
    • Yale: chyǔ-cháng-bǔ-dwǎn
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: cheucharngbuudoan
    • Palladius: цюйчанбудуань (cjujčanbuduanʹ)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡ɕʰy²¹⁴⁻²¹ ʈ͡ʂʰɑŋ³⁵ pu²¹⁴⁻³⁵ tu̯än²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: ceoi² coeng⁴ bou² dyun²
    • Yale: chéui chèuhng bóu dyún
    • Cantonese Pinyin: tsoey² tsoeng⁴ bou² dyn²
    • Guangdong Romanization: cêu² cêng⁴ bou² dün²
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sʰɵy̯³⁵ t͡sʰœːŋ²¹ pou̯³⁵ tyːn³⁵/

Idiom

取長補短

1. to learn from others' merits to offset one's weaknesses

   • 新老幹部應該是彼此尊重，互相學習，取長補短，以便團結一致，進行共同的事業，而防止宗派主義的傾向。 [MSC, trad.]
     新老干部应该是彼此尊重，互相学习，取长补短，以便团结一致，进行共同的事业，而防止宗派主义的倾向。 [MSC, simp.]

     From: 1942, 毛澤東 (Mao Zedong), 《整頓黨的作風》 (Rectify the Party's Style of Work), 《毛澤東選集》. English translation based on the Foreign Languages Press edition

     Xīnlǎo gànbù yīnggāi shì bǐcǐ zūnzhòng, hùxiāng xuéxí, qǔchángbǔduǎn, yǐbiàn tuánjié yīzhì, jìnxíng gòngtóng de shìyè, ér fángzhǐ zōngpài zhǔyì de qīngxiàng. [Pinyin]

     Cadres, new and old, should respect each other, learn from each other and overcome their own shortcomings by learning from each other's strong points, so as to unite as one in the common cause and guard against sectarian tendencies.

Synonyms

• (Hokkien) 掠長補短／掠长补短 (lia̍h-tn̂g-pó͘-té)