懷璧其罪

Chinese

			his; her; its his; her; its; theirs; that; such; it (refers to sth preceding it)	guilt; crime; fault guilt; crime; fault; blame; sin
trad. (懷璧其罪)		懷璧	其	罪
simp. (怀璧其罪)		怀璧	其	罪
Literally: “treasuring a jade ring becomes a crime”.

Etymology

From Zuo Zhuan (《左傳·桓公十年》):

初，虞叔有玉，虞公求旃。弗獻。既而悔之。曰：「周諺有之：『匹夫無罪，懷璧其罪。』吾焉用此，其以賈害也？」乃獻。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]

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初，虞叔有玉，虞公求旃。弗献。既而悔之。曰：「周谚有之：『匹夫无罪，怀璧其罪。』吾焉用此，其以贾害也？」乃献。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: Commentary of Zuo, c. 4^th century BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

Chū, Yú Shū yǒu yù, Yú Gōng qiú zhān. Fú xiàn. Jì ér huǐ zhī. Yuē: “Zhōu yàn yǒu zhī: ‘Pǐfū wú zuì, huái bì qí zuì.’ Wú yān yòng cǐ, qí yǐ gǔ hài yě?” Nǎi xiàn. [Pinyin]

The 3rd brother of the duke of Yu had a valuable piece of jade, which the duke asked of him. He refused it, but afterwards repented, saying, "There is the proverb in Zhou, 'A man may have no crime; — that he keeps his bi is his crime.' This jade is of no use to me; — shall I buy my hurt with it?" He then presented it to the duke.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): huáibìqízuì

  (Zhuyin): ㄏㄨㄞˊ ㄅㄧˋ ㄑㄧˊ ㄗㄨㄟˋ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): waai⁴ bik¹ kei⁴ zeoi⁶

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: huáibìqízuì
    • Zhuyin: ㄏㄨㄞˊ ㄅㄧˋ ㄑㄧˊ ㄗㄨㄟˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: huáibìcízuèi
    • Wade–Giles: huai²-pi⁴-chʻi²-tsui⁴
    • Yale: hwái-bì-chí-dzwèi
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: hwaibihchyitzuey
    • Palladius: хуайбицицзуй (xuajbiciczuj)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /xu̯aɪ̯³⁵ pi⁵¹ t͡ɕʰi³⁵ t͡su̯eɪ̯⁵¹/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: waai⁴ bik¹ kei⁴ zeoi⁶
    • Yale: wàaih bīk kèih jeuih
    • Cantonese Pinyin: waai⁴ bik⁷ kei⁴ dzoey⁶
    • Guangdong Romanization: wai⁴ big¹ kéi⁴ zêu⁶
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /waːi̯²¹ pɪk̚⁵ kʰei̯²¹ t͡sɵy̯²²/

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• Middle Chinese: hweaj pjiek gi dzwojX

Rime
Character	懷	璧	其	罪
Reading #	1/1	1/1	1/2	1/1
Initial (聲)	匣 (33)	幫 (1)	群 (30)	從 (15)
Final (韻)	皆 (34)	昔 (123)	之 (19)	灰 (42)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)	Checked (Ø)	Level (Ø)	Rising (X)
Openness (開合)	Closed	Open	Open	Closed
Division (等)	II	III	III	I
Fanqie	戸乖切	必益切	渠之切	徂賄切
Baxter	hweaj	pjiek	gi	dzwojX
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/ɦˠuɛi/	/piᴇk̚/	/ɡɨ/	/d͡zuʌiX/
Pan Wuyun	/ɦʷᵚæi/	/piɛk̚/	/ɡɨ/	/d͡zuoiX/
Shao Rongfen	/ɣuɐi/	/piæk̚/	/ɡie/	/d͡zuɒiX/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/ɦwəɨj/	/piajk̚/	/gɨ/	/d͡zwəjX/
Li Rong	/ɣuɛi/	/piɛk̚/	/ɡiə/	/d͡zuᴀiX/
Wang Li	/ɣwɐi/	/pĭɛk̚/	/ɡĭə/	/d͡zuɒiX/
Bernard Karlgren	/ɣwăi/	/pi̯ɛk̚/	/gi/	/d͡zʱuɑ̆iX/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	huái	bi	qí	zuì
Expected Cantonese Reflex	waai4	bik1	kei4	zeoi6

• Old Chinese

  (Baxter–Sagart): /*[ɡ]ˤruj  pek  ɡə  [dz]ˤujʔ/

  (Zhengzhang): /*ɡruːl  peɡ  ɡɯ  zuːlʔ/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	懷	璧	其	罪
Reading #	1/1	1/1	1/2	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	huái	bì	qí	zuì
Middle Chinese	‹ hwɛj ›	‹ pjiek ›	‹ gi ›	‹ dzwojX ›
Old Chinese	/*[ɡ]ˁruj/	/*pek/	/*ɡə/	/*[dz]ˁujʔ/
English	bosom; embrace	circular jade insignium	modal particle	crime, offense
Notes for Old Chinese notations in the Baxter–Sagart system: * Parentheses "()" indicate uncertain presence; * Square brackets "[]" indicate uncertain identity, e.g. *[t] as coda may in fact be *-t or *-p; * Angle brackets "<>" indicate infix; * Hyphen "-" indicates morpheme boundary; * Period "." indicates syllable boundary.

Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character	懷	璧	其	罪
Reading #	1/1	1/1	2/2	1/1
No.	5341	676	9947	17981
Phonetic component	褱	辟	其	罪
Rime group	微	錫	之	微
Rime subdivision	2	0	0	2
Corresponding MC rime	懷	辟	其	辠
Old Chinese	/*ɡruːl/	/*peɡ/	/*ɡɯ/	/*zuːlʔ/
Notes				同辠

Idiom

懷璧其罪

1. to get into trouble on account of a cherished item, fig. A person's talent will arouse the envy of others.

Derived terms

• 匹夫無罪，懷璧其罪／匹夫无罪，怀璧其罪