이민위천

Korean

Etymology

Sino-Korean word from 以民爲天 (“to consider the people as Heaven”), from the Book of Han:

王者以民爲天，而民以食爲天。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]

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王者以民为天，而民以食为天。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: The Book of Han, circa 1^st century CE

Wáng zhě yǐmínwèitiān, ér mín yǐ shí wèi tiān. [Pinyin]

The king considers his people as Heaven; the people consider their food as Heaven.

Pronunciation

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [ˈi(ː)minɥit͡ɕʰʌ̹n] ~ [ˈi(ː)minyt͡ɕʰʌ̹n]
• Phonetic hangul: [이(ː)미뉘천]
  • Though still prescribed in Standard Korean, most speakers in both Koreas no longer distinguish vowel length.

Romanizations
Revised Romanization?	iminwicheon
Revised Romanization (translit.)?	imin'wicheon
McCune–Reischauer?	iminwich'ŏn
Yale Romanization?	īmin.wi.chen

Noun

이민위천 • (iminwicheon) (hanja 以民爲天)

1. (four-character idiom from Classical Chinese, of a political leader) holding the benefit of the people to be one's political goal

Usage notes

• Nowadays used more commonly in North Korea.

Derived terms

• 이민위천(以民爲天)하다 (iminwicheonhada)