來龍去脈

See also: 来龙去脉

Chinese

trad. (來龍去脈)		來龍	去脈
simp. (来龙去脉)		来龙	去脉

Etymology

In fengshui terminology, 龍脈／龙脉 (lóngmài) refers to a stretch of rolling hills, the start and end points of which are termed 來龍／来龙 and 去脈／去脉, respectively.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): láilóngqùmài, láilóngqùmò

  (Zhuyin): ㄌㄞˊ ㄌㄨㄥˊ ㄑㄩˋ ㄇㄞˋ, ㄌㄞˊ ㄌㄨㄥˊ ㄑㄩˋ ㄇㄛˋ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): loi⁴ lung⁴ heoi³ mak⁶

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese, standard in Mainland and Taiwan)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: láilóngqùmài
    • Zhuyin: ㄌㄞˊ ㄌㄨㄥˊ ㄑㄩˋ ㄇㄞˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: láilóngcyùmài
    • Wade–Giles: lai²-lung²-chʻü⁴-mai⁴
    • Yale: lái-lúng-chyù-mài
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: lailongchiuhmay
    • Palladius: лайлунцюймай (lajluncjujmaj)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /laɪ̯³⁵ lʊŋ³⁵ t͡ɕʰy⁵¹⁻⁵³ maɪ̯⁵¹/
      
  • (Standard Chinese, variant)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: láilóngqùmò
    • Zhuyin: ㄌㄞˊ ㄌㄨㄥˊ ㄑㄩˋ ㄇㄛˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: láilóngcyùmò
    • Wade–Giles: lai²-lung²-chʻü⁴-mo⁴
    • Yale: lái-lúng-chyù-mwò
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: lailongchiuhmoh
    • Palladius: лайлунцюймо (lajluncjujmo)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /laɪ̯³⁵ lʊŋ³⁵ t͡ɕʰy⁵¹⁻⁵³ mu̯ɔ⁵¹/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: loi⁴ lung⁴ heoi³ mak⁶
    • Yale: lòih lùhng heui mahk
    • Cantonese Pinyin: loi⁴ lung⁴ hoey³ mak⁹
    • Guangdong Romanization: loi⁴ lung⁴ hêu³ meg⁶
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /lɔːi̯²¹ lʊŋ²¹ hɵy̯³³ mɐk̚²/

Idiom

來龍去脈

1. (figurative) origin and development; the entire process; sequence of events; ins and outs

Synonyms

• (Min Nan) 頭底來尾底去／头底来尾底去