放之四海而皆準

Chinese

		to release; to free; to let go to release; to free; to let go; to put; to place; to let out	's; him/her/it; this	the four seas; the world; the whole world the four seas; the world; the whole world; generous; magnanimous	and; as well as; but (not) and; as well as; but (not); yet (not); (shows causal relation); (shows change of state); (shows contrast)	all; each and every; in all cases	accurate; standard
trad. (放之四海而皆準)		放	之	四海	而	皆	準
simp. (放之四海而皆准)		放	之	四海	而	皆	准

Etymology

From the Book of Rites, Book 24 (《禮記·祭義》):

曾子曰：「夫孝，……推而放諸東海而準，推而放諸西海而準，推而放諸南海而準，推而放諸北海而準。」 [Classical Chinese, trad.]

---

曾子曰：「夫孝，……推而放诸东海而准，推而放诸西海而准，推而放诸南海而准，推而放诸北海而准。」 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: The Book of Rites, c. 4^th – 2^nd century BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

Zēngzǐ yuē: “Fú xiào,...... Tuī ér fàng zhū dōnghǎi ér zhǔn, tuī ér fàng zhū xīhǎi ér zhǔn, tuī ér fàng zhū nánhǎi ér zhǔn, tuī ér fàng zhū běihǎi ér zhǔn.” [Pinyin]

Zengzi said, "Filial piety […] push it on to the eastern sea, the western sea, the southern sea, and the northern sea, and it will be (everywhere) the law for men, and their obedience to it will be uniform."

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): fàng zhī sìhǎi ér jiē zhǔn

  (Zhuyin): ㄈㄤˋ ㄓ ㄙˋ ㄏㄞˇ ㄦˊ ㄐㄧㄝ ㄓㄨㄣˇ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): fong³ zi¹ sei³ hoi² ji⁴ gaai¹ zeon²

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: fàng zhī sìhǎi ér jiē zhǔn
    • Zhuyin: ㄈㄤˋ ㄓ ㄙˋ ㄏㄞˇ ㄦˊ ㄐㄧㄝ ㄓㄨㄣˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: fàng jhih sìhhǎi ér jie jhǔn
    • Wade–Giles: fang⁴ chih¹ ssŭ⁴-hai³ êrh² chieh¹ chun³
    • Yale: fàng jr̄ sz̀-hǎi ér jyē jwǔn
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: fanq jy syhhae erl jie joen
    • Palladius: фан чжи сыхай эр цзе чжунь (fan čži syxaj er cze čžunʹ)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /fɑŋ⁵¹ ʈ͡ʂʐ̩⁵⁵ sz̩⁵¹ xaɪ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹ ˀɤɻ³⁵ t͡ɕi̯ɛ⁵⁵ ʈ͡ʂu̯ən²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: fong³ zi¹ sei³ hoi² ji⁴ gaai¹ zeon²
    • Yale: fong jī sei hói yìh gāai jéun
    • Cantonese Pinyin: fong³ dzi¹ sei³ hoi² ji⁴ gaai¹ dzoen²
    • Guangdong Romanization: fong³ ji¹ séi³ hoi² yi⁴ gai¹ zên²
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /fɔːŋ³³ t͡siː⁵⁵ sei̯³³ hɔːi̯³⁵ jiː²¹ kaːi̯⁵⁵ t͡sɵn³⁵/

Idiom

放之四海而皆準

1. applicable everywhere

   • 中國人找到了馬克思列寧主義這個放之四海而皆準的普遍真理，中國的面目就起了變化了。 [MSC, trad.]
     中国人找到了马克思列宁主义这个放之四海而皆准的普遍真理，中国的面目就起了变化了。 [MSC, simp.]

     From: 1949, 毛澤東 (Mao Zedong), 《論人民民主專政》 (“On the People's Democratic Dictatorship”). English translation based on [1]

     Zhōngguórén zhǎo dào le Mǎkèsī-Lièníng zhǔyì zhège fàng zhī sìhǎi ér jiē zhǔn de pǔbiàn zhēnlǐ, Zhōngguó de miànmù jiù qǐ le biànhuà le. [Pinyin]

     The Chinese found Marxism-Leninism, the universally applicable truth, and the face of China began to change.

Synonyms

• 放諸四海而皆準／放诸四海而皆准 (fàng zhū sìhǎi ér jiē zhǔn)