鴻門宴

Chinese

			feast; repose
trad. (鴻門宴)		鴻門	宴
simp. (鸿门宴)		鸿门	宴

Etymology

In 206 BC, late Qin dynasty warlord Xiang Yu invited his rival Liu Bang to a feast at 鴻門／鸿门 (“Hongmen, a historical place name located in Shaanxi province today”). During this feast, several assassination attempts were made on Liu.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): hóngményàn

  (Zhuyin): ㄏㄨㄥˊ ㄇㄣˊ ㄧㄢˋ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): hung⁴ mun⁴ jin³

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: hóngményàn
    • Zhuyin: ㄏㄨㄥˊ ㄇㄣˊ ㄧㄢˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: hóngményàn
    • Wade–Giles: hung²-mên²-yen⁴
    • Yale: húng-mén-yàn
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: horngmenyann
    • Palladius: хунмэньянь (xunmɛnʹjanʹ)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /xʊŋ³⁵ mən³⁵ jɛn⁵¹/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: hung⁴ mun⁴ jin³
    • Yale: hùhng mùhn yin
    • Cantonese Pinyin: hung⁴ mun⁴ jin³
    • Guangdong Romanization: hung⁴ mun⁴ yin³
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /hʊŋ²¹ muːn²¹ jiːn³³/

Noun

鴻門宴

1. social gathering (e.g. a party or meeting) with conspiracy against its guest; malicious invitation; trap

   他為人狡猾，我看你還是不要去赴那鴻門宴吧！ [MSC, trad.]
   他为人狡猾，我看你还是不要去赴那鸿门宴吧！ [MSC, simp.]

   Tā wéirén jiǎohuá, wǒ kàn nǐ háishì bùyào qù fù nà hóngményàn ba! [Pinyin]

   He is treacherous, so I think you had better not accept his invitation.

See also

• 項莊舞劍，意在沛公／项庄舞剑，意在沛公 (Xiàng Zhuāng wǔ jiàn, yì zài Pèigōng)