握髮吐哺

Chinese

		shake hands; to hold; to grasp	hair	vomit; to spit	feed
trad. (握髮吐哺)		握	髮	吐	哺
simp. (握发吐哺)		握	发	吐	哺

Etymology

From The Biography of the Duke of Zhou (魯周公世家) in the Records of the Grand Historian:

「然我一沐三握髮，一飯三吐哺，起以待士，猶恐失天下之賢人。」 [Classical Chinese, trad.]

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「然我一沐三握发，一饭三吐哺，起以待士，犹恐失天下之贤人。」 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: The Records of the Grand Historian, by Sima Qian, c. 91 BCE

“rán wǒ yī mù sān wò fà, yī fàn sān tù bǔ, qǐ yǐ dài shì, yóu kǒng shī tiānxià zhī xiánrén.” [Pinyin]

[the Duke of Zhou said,] " […] Yet each time I bathe, I am called away three times, wringing out my hair in haste; each time I dine, I rush off three times, spitting out my food in haste, in order to wait upon some gentleman. I do so because I am always fearful that I may otherwise fail to gain the service of a worthy man."

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): wòfàtǔbǔ, wòfǎtǔbǔ

  (Zhuyin): ㄨㄛˋ ㄈㄚˋ ㄊㄨˇ ㄅㄨˇ, ㄨㄛˋ ㄈㄚˇ ㄊㄨˇ ㄅㄨˇ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): aak¹ faat³ tou³ bou⁶

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese, Mainland)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: wòfàtǔbǔ [Phonetic: wòfàtúbǔ]
    • Zhuyin: ㄨㄛˋ ㄈㄚˋ ㄊㄨˇ ㄅㄨˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: wòfàtǔbǔ
    • Wade–Giles: wo⁴-fa⁴-tʻu³-pu³
    • Yale: wò-fà-tǔ-bǔ
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: wohfahtuubuu
    • Palladius: вофатубу (vofatubu)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /wɔ⁵¹⁻⁵³ fä⁵¹ tʰu²¹⁴⁻³⁵ pu²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
      
  • (Standard Chinese, Taiwan)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: wòfǎtǔbǔ [Phonetic: wòfátúbǔ]
    • Zhuyin: ㄨㄛˋ ㄈㄚˇ ㄊㄨˇ ㄅㄨˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: wòfǎtǔbǔ
    • Wade–Giles: wo⁴-fa³-tʻu³-pu³
    • Yale: wò-fǎ-tǔ-bǔ
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: wohfaatuubuu
    • Palladius: вофатубу (vofatubu)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /wɔ⁵¹ fä²¹⁴⁻³⁵ tʰu²¹⁴⁻³⁵ pu²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: aak¹ faat³ tou³ bou⁶
    • Yale: āak faat tou bouh
    • Cantonese Pinyin: aak⁷ faat⁸ tou³ bou⁶
    • Guangdong Romanization: ag¹ fad³ tou³ bou⁶
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /aːk̚⁵ faːt̚³ tʰou̯³³ pou̯²²/

Idiom

握髮吐哺

1. to be eager of talents

Synonyms

• 吐哺握髮／吐哺握发
• 周公吐哺

Related terms

• (Cantonese) 𦧲飯應／𦧲饭应 (loe¹ faan⁶ jing³)