山中無老虎，猴子稱大王

Chinese

		mountain; hill	middle; centre; within middle; centre; within; among; in; while (doing sth); during; China; Chinese; hit (the mark)	not have	tiger; tractor		monkey; dice	to call; to praise; to weigh to call; to praise; to weigh; to estimate; to consider; to address; to name; to say; commend; steelyard; balanced; to fit; well-off; suitable	king; the red joker, one of the two jokers that has a more reddish or colorful appearance
trad. (山中無老虎，猴子稱大王)		山	中	無	老虎	，	猴子	稱	大王
simp. (山中无老虎，猴子称大王)		山	中	无	老虎	，	猴子	称	大王
alternative forms		山上無老虎，猴子稱大王／山上无老虎，猴子称大王 山中無老虎，猴子也稱王／山中无老虎，猴子也称王
Literally: “the monkeys reign when there are no tigers in the mountain”.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): shān zhōng wú lǎohǔ, hóuzi chēng dàwáng, shān zhōng wú lǎohǔ, hóuzi chēng dàiwáng

  (Zhuyin): ㄕㄢ ㄓㄨㄥ ㄨˊ ㄌㄠˇ ㄏㄨˇ , ㄏㄡˊ ˙ㄗ ㄔㄥ ㄉㄚˋ ㄨㄤˊ, ㄕㄢ ㄓㄨㄥ ㄨˊ ㄌㄠˇ ㄏㄨˇ , ㄏㄡˊ ˙ㄗ ㄔㄥ ㄉㄞˋ ㄨㄤˊ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): saan¹ zung¹ mou⁴ lou⁵ fu², hau⁴ zi² cing¹ daai⁶ wong⁴

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: shān zhōng wú lǎohǔ, hóuzi chēng dàwáng [Phonetic: shānzhōngwúláohǔ,hóuzichēngdàwáng]
    • Zhuyin: ㄕㄢ ㄓㄨㄥ ㄨˊ ㄌㄠˇ ㄏㄨˇ , ㄏㄡˊ ˙ㄗ ㄔㄥ ㄉㄚˋ ㄨㄤˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: shan jhong wú lǎohǔ, hóuzi̊h cheng dàwáng
    • Wade–Giles: shan¹ chung¹ wu² lao³-hu³, hou²-tzŭ⁵ chʻêng¹ ta⁴-wang²
    • Yale: shān jūng wú lǎu-hǔ-, hóu-dz chēng dà-wáng
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: shan jong wu laohuu, hour.tzy cheng dahwang
    • Palladius: шань чжун у лаоху, хоуцзы чэн даван (šanʹ čžun u laoxu, xouczy čɛn davan)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ʂän⁵⁵ ʈ͡ʂʊŋ⁵⁵ u³⁵ lɑʊ̯²¹⁴⁻³⁵ xu²¹⁴⁻²¹ xoʊ̯³⁵ d͡z̥z̩³ ʈ͡ʂʰɤŋ⁵⁵ tä⁵¹ wɑŋ³⁵/
      
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: shān zhōng wú lǎohǔ, hóuzi chēng dàiwáng [Phonetic: shānzhōngwúláohǔ,hóuzichēngdàiwáng]
    • Zhuyin: ㄕㄢ ㄓㄨㄥ ㄨˊ ㄌㄠˇ ㄏㄨˇ , ㄏㄡˊ ˙ㄗ ㄔㄥ ㄉㄞˋ ㄨㄤˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: shan jhong wú lǎohǔ, hóuzi̊h cheng dàiwáng
    • Wade–Giles: shan¹ chung¹ wu² lao³-hu³, hou²-tzŭ⁵ chʻêng¹ tai⁴-wang²
    • Yale: shān jūng wú lǎu-hǔ-, hóu-dz chēng dài-wáng
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: shan jong wu laohuu, hour.tzy cheng daywang
    • Palladius: шань чжун у лаоху, хоуцзы чэн дайван (šanʹ čžun u laoxu, xouczy čɛn dajvan)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ʂän⁵⁵ ʈ͡ʂʊŋ⁵⁵ u³⁵ lɑʊ̯²¹⁴⁻³⁵ xu²¹⁴⁻²¹ xoʊ̯³⁵ d͡z̥z̩³ ʈ͡ʂʰɤŋ⁵⁵ taɪ̯⁵¹ wɑŋ³⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: saan¹ zung¹ mou⁴ lou⁵ fu², hau⁴ zi² cing¹ daai⁶ wong⁴
    • Yale: sāan jūng mòuh lóuh fú, hàuh jí chīng daaih wòhng
    • Cantonese Pinyin: saan¹ dzung¹ mou⁴ lou⁵ fu², hau⁴ dzi² tsing¹ daai⁶ wong⁴
    • Guangdong Romanization: san¹ zung¹ mou⁴ lou⁵ fu², heo⁴ ji² qing¹ dai⁶ wong⁴
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /saːn⁵⁵ t͡sʊŋ⁵⁵ mou̯²¹ lou̯¹³ fuː³⁵ hɐu̯²¹ t͡siː³⁵ t͡sʰɪŋ⁵⁵ taːi̯²² wɔːŋ²¹/

Proverb

山中無老虎，猴子稱大王

1. in the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is king; when the cat's away the mice will play

Synonyms

• 老虎不在家，猴子稱大王／老虎不在家，猴子称大王
• 山中無好漢，猢猻稱霸王／山中无好汉，猢狲称霸王
• 蜀中無大將，廖化作先鋒／蜀中无大将，廖化作先锋 (Shǔ zhōng wú dàjiàng, Liào Huà zuò xiānfēng)
• 池中無魚蝦自大／池中无鱼虾自大 (chí zhōng wú yú xiā zìdà)