千呼萬喚
Chinese
| thousand | to call; to cry; to shout to call; to cry; to shout; to breathe out; to exhale |
ten thousand; a great number; surname | to call | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| trad. (千呼萬喚) | 千 | 呼 | 萬 | 喚 | |
| simp. (千呼万唤) | 千 | 呼 | 万 | 唤 | |
Etymology
From the poem 琵琶行 (The Song of the Pipa Player) by Bai Juyi (772-846):
- 千呼萬喚始出來，猶抱琵琶半遮面。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
- From: 816, 白居易 (Bai Juyi), 琵琶行 (The Song of the Pipa Player)
- Qiānhūwànhuàn shǐ chūlái, yóu bào pípá bàn zhē miàn. [Pinyin]
- Yet we called and urged a thousand times before she started toward us,
Still hiding half her face from us behind her pipa.
千呼万唤始出来，犹抱琵琶半遮面。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]
Pronunciation
- Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)+
- Hanyu Pinyin: qiānhūwànhuàn
- Zhuyin: ㄑㄧㄢ ㄏㄨ ㄨㄢˋ ㄏㄨㄢˋ
- Tongyong Pinyin: cianhuwànhuàn
- Wade–Giles: chʻien1-hu1-wan4-huan4
- Yale: chyān-hū-wàn-hwàn
- Gwoyeu Romatzyh: chianhuwannhuann
- Palladius: цяньхуваньхуань (cjanʹxuvanʹxuanʹ)
- Sinological IPA (key): /t͡ɕʰi̯ɛn⁵⁵ xu⁵⁵ wän⁵¹⁻⁵³ xu̯än⁵¹/
- (Standard Chinese)+
- Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)+
- Jyutping: cin1 fu1 maan6 wun6
- Yale: chīn fū maahn wuhn
- Cantonese Pinyin: tsin1 fu1 maan6 wun6
- Guangdong Romanization: qin1 fu1 man6 wun6
- Sinological IPA (key): /t͡sʰiːn⁵⁵ fuː⁵⁵ maːn²² wuːn²²/
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)+
- Middle Chinese: tshen xu mjonH xwanH
Idiom
千呼萬喚
- to urge many times