臥薪嘗膽
See also: 卧薪尝胆
Chinese
to lie; to crouch | fuel; salary | to taste; flavour; indicator of past tense to taste; flavour; indicator of past tense; already; ever; once; test; formerly |
the gall; the nerve; courage the gall; the nerve; courage; guts; gall bladder | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
trad. (臥薪嘗膽/臥薪嚐膽) | 臥 | 薪 | 嘗/嚐 | 膽 | |
simp. (卧薪尝胆) | 卧 | 薪 | 尝 | 胆 | |
Literally: “to sleep on brushwood and taste gall”. |
Etymology
From the story of the King Goujian of Yue [5th BCE], who forced himself to sleep on firewood and lick a gallbladder everyday to remember the humiliation of his previous defeat by the State of Wu.
Pronunciation
- Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)+
- Hanyu Pinyin:
- Zhuyin: ㄨㄛˋ ㄒㄧㄣ ㄔㄤˊ ㄉㄢˇ
- Tongyong Pinyin: wòsinchángdǎn
- Wade–Giles: wo4-hsin1-chʻang2-tan3
- Yale: wò-syīn-cháng-dǎn
- Gwoyeu Romatzyh: wohshincharngdaan
- Palladius: восиньчандань (vosinʹčandanʹ)
- Sinological IPA (key): /wɔ⁵¹ ɕin⁵⁵ ʈ͡ʂʰɑŋ³⁵ tän²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
- (Standard Chinese)+
- Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)+
- Jyutping: ngo6 san1 soeng4 daam2
- Yale: ngoh sān sèuhng dáam
- Cantonese Pinyin: ngo6 san1 soeng4 daam2
- Guangdong Romanization: ngo6 sen1 sêng4 dam2
- Sinological IPA (key): /ŋɔː²² sɐn⁵⁵ sœːŋ²¹ taːm³⁵/
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)+
Idiom
(deprecated template usage) 臥薪嘗膽
- to undergo self-imposed hardships; to nurse vengeance; to endure hardships to accomplish some ambition
Descendants
Sino-Xenic (臥薪嘗膽):
- → Japanese: 臥薪嘗胆 (gashinshōtan)
- → Korean: 와신상담(臥薪嘗膽) (wasinsangdam)
- → Vietnamese: ngọa tân thường đảm (臥薪嘗膽)