비단 주머니

Korean

Etymology

From an episode in the fourteenth-century novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, in which the strategist Zhuge Liang gives the general Zhao Yun—who is escorting the protagonist Liu Bei to the neighboring realm of Wu, ruled by Sun Quan―three brocade pouches containing cunning instructions on how to thwart Sun Quan's schemes to keep Liu Bei hostage. Compare Chinese 錦囊妙計／锦囊妙计 (jǐnnángmiàojì, literally “masterplan of the brocade pouch”).

Pronunciation

• (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [ˈpi(ː)da̠n t͡ɕumʌ̹ni]
• Phonetic hangul: [비(ː)단 주머니]
  • Though still prescribed in Standard Korean, most speakers in both Koreas no longer distinguish vowel length.

Romanizations
Revised Romanization?	bidan jumeoni
Revised Romanization (translit.)?	bidan jumeoni
McCune–Reischauer?	pidan chumŏni
Yale Romanization?	pītan cwumeni

Noun

비단 주머니 • (bidan jumeoni)

1. (figurative) bag of tricks; cunning masterplan
   • 2021 October 23, “이준석, 尹(윤) '개 사과' 논란 "SNS는 '복 요리'…비단주머니 준비"”, in Chosun Ilbo‎^[1]:

     우리 후보가 누가 되든지 SNS 때문에 혼란이 생기는 경우는 없도록 비단주머니를 철저하게 준비하겠다.

     Uri hubo-ga nuga doe-deunji SNS ttaemun-e hollan-i saenggi-neun gyeong'u-neun eop-dorok bidanjumeoni-reul cheoljeo-hage junbi-hagetda.

     I will meticulously prepare careful plans to ensure that there is no case of trouble being caused by social media, no matter who becomes our candidate.

2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see 비단 (bidan),‎ 주머니 (jumeoni) – silk pouch, brocade pouch