欺山莫欺水

Chinese

		take unfair advantage of; to deceive; to cheat	mountain; hill	do not; there is none who	take unfair advantage of; to deceive; to cheat	water; river
trad. (欺山莫欺水)		欺	山	莫	欺	水
simp. ^#(欺山莫欺水)		欺	山	莫	欺	水

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): qīshānmòqīshuǐ

(Zhuyin): ㄑㄧㄕㄢㄇㄛˋ ㄑㄧㄕㄨㄟˇ
Cantonese (Jyutping): hei¹ saan¹ mok⁶ hei¹ seoi²

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: qīshānmòqīshuǐ
  - Zhuyin: ㄑㄧㄕㄢㄇㄛˋ ㄑㄧㄕㄨㄟˇ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: cishanmòcishuěi
  - Wade–Giles: chʻi¹-shan¹-mo⁴-chʻi¹-shui³
  - Yale: chī-shān-mwò-chī-shwěi
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: chishanmohchishoei
  - Palladius: цишаньмоцишуй (cišanʹmocišuj)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡ɕʰi⁵⁵ ʂän⁵⁵ mu̯ɔ⁵¹ t͡ɕʰi⁵⁵ ʂu̯eɪ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: hei¹ saan¹ mok⁶ hei¹ seoi²
  - Yale: hēi sāan mohk hēi séui
  - Cantonese Pinyin: hei¹ saan¹ mok⁹ hei¹ soey²
  - Guangdong Romanization: héi¹ san¹ mog⁶ héi¹ sêu²
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /hei̯⁵⁵ saːn⁵⁵ mɔːk̚² hei̯⁵⁵ sɵy̯³⁵/

Proverb

欺山莫欺水

Rather climb a mountain than swim or play in the water; i.e. better the Devil you know, alluding to the fact that when climbing a mountain, all dangers are clearly visible but when swimming, there may be invisible dangers lurking.