浮雲

See also: 浮云

Chinese

		to float	cloud; Yunnan (abbrev.); surname
trad. (浮雲)		浮	雲
simp. (浮云)		浮	云
anagram		雲浮／云浮

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): fúyún

  (Zhuyin): ㄈㄨˊ ㄩㄣˊ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): fau⁴ wan⁴
• Southern Min

  (Hokkien, POJ): phû-hûn

  (Teochew, Peng'im): pu⁵ hung⁵

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: fúyún
    • Zhuyin: ㄈㄨˊ ㄩㄣˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: fúyún
    • Wade–Giles: fu²-yün²
    • Yale: fú-yún
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: fwuyun
    • Palladius: фуюнь (fujunʹ)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /fu³⁵ yn³⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: fau⁴ wan⁴
    • Yale: fàuh wàhn
    • Cantonese Pinyin: fau⁴ wan⁴
    • Guangdong Romanization: feo⁴ wen⁴
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /fɐu̯²¹ wɐn²¹/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: phû-hûn
    • Tâi-lô: phû-hûn
    • Phofsit Daibuun: phu'huun
    • IPA (Xiamen): /pʰu²⁴⁻²² hun²⁴/
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /pʰu²⁴⁻²² hun²⁴/
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /pʰu¹³⁻²² hun¹³/
    • IPA (Taipei): /pʰu²⁴⁻¹¹ hun²⁴/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /pʰu²³⁻³³ hun²³/
  • (Teochew)
    • Peng'im: pu⁵ hung⁵
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: phû hûng
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /pʰu⁵⁵⁻¹¹ huŋ⁵⁵/

---

• Middle Chinese: bjuw hjun

Rime
Character	浮	雲
Reading #	1/1	1/1
Initial (聲)	並 (3)	云 (35)
Final (韻)	尤 (136)	文 (59)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)	Level (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Open	Closed
Division (等)	III	III
Fanqie	縛謀切	王分切
Baxter	bjuw	hjun
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/bɨu/	/ɦɨun/
Pan Wuyun	/biu/	/ɦiun/
Shao Rongfen	/biəu/	/ɣiuən/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/buw/	/ɦun/
Li Rong	/biu/	/ɣiuən/
Wang Li	/bĭəu/	/ɣĭuən/
Bernard Karlgren	/bʱi̯ə̯u/	/i̯uən/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	fóu	yún
Expected Cantonese Reflex	fau4	wan4

• Old Chinese

  (Baxter–Sagart): /*m.b(r)u  [ɢ]ʷə[n]/

  (Zhengzhang): /*bu  ɢun/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	浮	雲
Reading #	1/1	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	fú	yún
Middle Chinese	‹ bjuw ›	‹ hjun ›
Old Chinese	/*m.b(r)u/	/*[ɢ]ʷə[n]/
English	float (v.)	cloud
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	浮	雲
Reading #	1/1	1/1
No.	3346	16358
Phonetic component	孚	云
Rime group	幽	文
Rime subdivision	1	2
Corresponding MC rime	浮	雲
Old Chinese	/*bu/	/*ɢun/

Noun

浮雲

1. (literary) floating cloud(s)

   • 不義而富且貴，於我如浮雲。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     不义而富且贵，于我如浮云。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: The Analects of Confucius, c. 475 – 221 BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

     Bùyì ér fù qiě guì, yú wǒ rú fúyún. [Pinyin]

     Riches and honours acquired by unrighteousness, are to me as a floating cloud.

   • 上決浮雲，下絕地紀。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     上决浮云，下绝地纪。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: Zhuangzi, circa 3^rd – 2^nd centuries BCE

     Shàng jué fúyún, xià jué dìjì. [Pinyin]

     Above, (the sword) cleaves the floating clouds; and below, it penetrates to every division of the earth.

2. (literary or Mainland China slang, figurative) something not worth cherishing; unimportant matter

   神馬都是浮雲／神马都是浮云  ―  shénmǎ dōu shì fúyún  ―  everything is nothing

3. (literary, figurative) passing time
4. (literary, figurative) evil and crafty minister
5. (literary, figurative) life of a vagrant
6. (literary, figurative, calligraphy) lively, flowing brushwork

Derived terms

• 富貴如浮雲／富贵如浮云
• 富貴浮雲／富贵浮云
• 決浮雲／决浮云
• 浮雲富貴／浮云富贵
• 浮雲朝露／浮云朝露
• 浮雲翳日／浮云翳日
• 浮雲蔽日／浮云蔽日
• 浮雲遊子／浮云游子
• 浮雲驚龍／浮云惊龙
• 神馬都是浮雲／神马都是浮云 (shénmǎ dōu shì fúyún)
• 過眼浮雲／过眼浮云

 

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (浮雲):

• → Japanese: 浮雲(ふうん) (fuun)
• → Korean: 부운(浮雲) (buun)
• → Vietnamese: phù vân (浮雲)

Japanese

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
浮	雲
うき Grade: S	くも > ぐも Grade: 2
kun’yomi

Shift from older ukikumo, itself a compound of 浮(う)き (uki, “floating”) + 雲(くも) (kumo, “cloud”). The kumo changes to gumo as an instance of rendaku (連濁).

Alternative forms

• 浮き雲

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) うきぐも [ùkígúmó] (Heiban – [0])
• IPA^(key): [ɯ̟ᵝkʲiɡɯ̟ᵝmo̞]

Noun

浮(うき)雲(ぐも) • (ukigumo) 

1. a drifting or floating cloud

Proverb

浮(うき)雲(ぐも) • (ukigumo) 

1. instability

Proper noun

浮(うき)雲(ぐも) • (Ukigumo) 

1. a novel by Futabatei Shimei (see The Drifting Cloud on Wikipedia.Wikipedia )
2. a novel by Fumiko Hayashi

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
浮	雲
ふ Grade: S	うん Grade: 2
kan’yōon	on’yomi

From Middle Chinese compound 浮雲 (MC bjuw hjun).

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) ふうん [fùúń] (Heiban – [0])
• IPA^(key): [ɸɯ̟̃ᵝːɴ]

Noun

浮(ふ)雲(うん) • (fuun) 

1. a drifting or floating cloud

Proverb

浮(ふ)雲(うん) • (fuun) 

1. instability