池中無魚蝦自大

Chinese

		pond; reservoir	middle; centre; within middle; centre; within; among; in; while (doing sth); during; China; Chinese; hit (the mark)	not have	fish	shrimp; prawn	self-important; arrogant; conceited
trad. (池中無魚蝦自大)		池	中	無	魚	蝦	自大
simp. (池中无鱼虾自大)		池	中	无	鱼	虾	自大
Literally: “when there is no fish in a pond, the shrimps will become arrogant”.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): chí zhōng wú yú xiā zìdà

  (Zhuyin): ㄔˊ ㄓㄨㄥ ㄨˊ ㄩˊ ㄒㄧㄚ ㄗˋ ㄉㄚˋ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): ci⁴ zung¹ mou⁴ jyu⁴ haa¹ zi⁶ daai⁶

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: chí zhōng wú yú xiā zìdà
    • Zhuyin: ㄔˊ ㄓㄨㄥ ㄨˊ ㄩˊ ㄒㄧㄚ ㄗˋ ㄉㄚˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: chíh jhong wú yú sia zìhdà
    • Wade–Giles: chʻih² chung¹ wu² yü² hsia¹ tzŭ⁴-ta⁴
    • Yale: chŕ jūng wú yú syā dz̀-dà
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: chyr jong wu yu shia tzyhdah
    • Palladius: чи чжун у юй ся цзыда (či čžun u juj sja czyda)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ʈ͡ʂʰʐ̩³⁵ ʈ͡ʂʊŋ⁵⁵ u³⁵ y³⁵ ɕi̯ä⁵⁵ t͡sz̩⁵¹⁻⁵³ tä⁵¹/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: ci⁴ zung¹ mou⁴ jyu⁴ haa¹ zi⁶ daai⁶
    • Yale: chìh jūng mòuh yùh hā jih daaih
    • Cantonese Pinyin: tsi⁴ dzung¹ mou⁴ jy⁴ haa¹ dzi⁶ daai⁶
    • Guangdong Romanization: qi⁴ zung¹ mou⁴ yu⁴ ha¹ ji⁶ dai⁶
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sʰiː²¹ t͡sʊŋ⁵⁵ mou̯²¹ jyː²¹ haː⁵⁵ t͡siː²² taːi̯²²/

Proverb

池中無魚蝦自大

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

Synonyms

• 池中無魚蝦為大／池中无鱼虾为大
• 山中無老虎，猴子稱大王／山中无老虎，猴子称大王 (shān zhōng wú lǎohǔ, hóuzi chēng dàwáng)