宮保

See also: 宫保

Chinese

		palace; uterus	to defend; to protect; to insure or guarantee to defend; to protect; to insure or guarantee; to maintain; hold or keep; to guard
trad. (宮保)		宮	保
simp. (宫保)		宫	保

Etymology

The archaic usage referred to one of several titles during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. However, by the end of the Qing Dynasty, the title was merely honorific and did not necessarily mean that the person had anything to do with tutoring the crown prince. According to legend, because this title was bestowed upon Ding Baozhen, the inventor of Kung Pao chicken, it later came to be used as the name for the dish itself.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): gōngbǎo

  (Zhuyin): ㄍㄨㄥ ㄅㄠˇ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): gung¹ bou²

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: gōngbǎo
    • Zhuyin: ㄍㄨㄥ ㄅㄠˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: gongbǎo
    • Wade–Giles: kung¹-pao³
    • Yale: gūng-bǎu
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: gongbao
    • Palladius: гунбао (gunbao)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /kʊŋ⁵⁵ pɑʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: gung¹ bou²
    • Yale: gūng bóu
    • Cantonese Pinyin: gung¹ bou²
    • Guangdong Romanization: gung¹ bou²
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /kʊŋ⁵⁵ pou̯³⁵/

Noun

宮保

1. kung pao style of cooking (e.g. Kung Pao chicken)
2. (archaic) senior tutor of the crown prince (during the Ming Dynasty, shorthand for 太子太保)
3. (archaic) assistant to the senior tutor of the crown prince (during the Qing Dynasty, short for 太子少保)

Derived terms

• 宮保雞丁／宫保鸡丁 (Gōngbǎo jīdīng)

 

Related terms

• 太子太保
• 太子少保

References

• Kung Pao chicken on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• 宮保雞丁／宫保鸡丁 on the Chinese Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^zh
• 東宮三師／东宫三师 on the Chinese Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^zh