三顧茅廬

Chinese

		three	look after; take into consideration; to attend to	thatched cottage; shabby house
trad. (三顧茅廬)		三	顧	茅廬
simp. (三顾茅庐)		三	顾	茅庐

Etymology

From the story of Liu Bei paying three visits to the thatched cottage of Zhuge Liang (later his chancellor) in order to recruit him during the late Eastern Han dynasty.

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): sāngùmáolú

(Zhuyin): ㄙㄢㄍㄨˋ ㄇㄠˊ ㄌㄨˊ
Cantonese (Jyutping): saam¹ gu³ maau⁴ lou⁴

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: sāngùmáolú
  - Zhuyin: ㄙㄢㄍㄨˋ ㄇㄠˊ ㄌㄨˊ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: sangùmáolú
  - Wade–Giles: san¹-ku⁴-mao²-lu²
  - Yale: sān-gù-máu-lú
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: sanguhmaulu
  - Palladius: саньгумаолу (sanʹgumaolu)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /sän⁵⁵ ku⁵¹ mɑʊ̯³⁵ lu³⁵/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: saam¹ gu³ maau⁴ lou⁴
  - Yale: sāam gu màauh lòuh
  - Cantonese Pinyin: saam¹ gu³ maau⁴ lou⁴
  - Guangdong Romanization: sam¹ gu³ mao⁴ lou⁴
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /saːm⁵⁵ kuː³³ maːu̯²¹ lou̯²¹/

Idiom

三顧茅廬

(figurative) to sincerely and repeatedly request someone to take up a post

Synonyms

三顧草廬／三顾草庐