夜不閉戶
Chinese
| night | not; no | to close; stop up; shut to close; stop up; shut; obstruct |
a household; door; family | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| trad. (夜不閉戶) | 夜 | 不 | 閉 | 戶 | |
| simp. (夜不闭户) | 夜 | 不 | 闭 | 户 | |
| alternative forms | 夜不閉户 | ||||
| Literally: “No need to close the door at night to prevent thieves”. | |||||
Etymology
From Book of Rites:
- 是故謀閉而不興,盜竊亂賊而不作,故外戶而不閉,是謂大同。 [Traditional Chinese poetry, trad.]
- From: The Book of Rites, c. 4th – 2nd century BCE
- Shì gù móu bì ér bùxìng, dàoqiè luàn zéi ér bùzuò, gù wàihù ér bù bì, shì wèi dàtóng. [Pinyin]
- Therefore people don’t engage in intrigue or trickery, nor do they engage in robbery, theft, and rebellion. Thus, though people leave their houses they don’t close their doors. This is called “The Great Together”.[1]
是故谋闭而不兴,盗窃乱贼而不作,故外户而不闭,是谓大同。 [Traditional Chinese poetry, simp.]
Pronunciation
- Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)+
- Hanyu Pinyin: yèbùbìhù [Phonetic: yèbúbìhù]
- Zhuyin: ㄧㄝˋ ㄅㄨˋ ㄅㄧˋ ㄏㄨˋ
- Tongyong Pinyin: yèbùbìhù
- Wade–Giles: yeh4-pu4-pi4-hu4
- Yale: yè-bù-bì-hù
- Gwoyeu Romatzyh: yehbubihhuh
- Palladius: ебубиху (jebubixu)
- Sinological IPA (key): /jɛ⁵¹ pu⁵¹⁻³⁵ pi⁵¹⁻⁵³ xu⁵¹/
- (Standard Chinese)+
- Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)+
- Jyutping: je6 bat1 bai3 wu6
- Yale: yeh bāt bai wuh
- Cantonese Pinyin: je6 bat7 bai3 wu6
- Guangdong Romanization: yé6 bed1 bei3 wu6
- Sinological IPA (key): /jɛː²² pɐt̚⁵ pɐi̯³³ wuː²²/
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)+
Idiom
夜不閉戶
- (figurative) The society is peaceful and thieves are gone.
- 君臣一心,不肆干戈,不行殺伐,行人讓路,夜不閉戶,路不拾遺,四方瞻仰,稱為西方聖人。 [Written Vernacular Chinese, trad.]
- From: Investiture of the Gods
- Jūnchén yīxīn, bù sì gāngē, bùxíng shāfá, xíngrén rànglù, yèbùbìhù, lùbùshíyí, sìfāng zhānyǎng, chēngwèi xīfāng shèngrén. [Pinyin]
- (please add an English translation of this usage example)
君臣一心,不肆干戈,不行杀伐,行人让路,夜不闭户,路不拾遗,四方瞻仰,称为西方圣人。 [Written Vernacular Chinese, simp.]
Synonyms
- 門不夜關/门不夜关
- 門不夜扃/门不夜扃
References
- “夜不閉戶”, in 重編國語辭典修訂本 [Revised Mandarin Chinese Dictionary] (in Chinese), National Academy for Educational Research (Taiwan), 2021.