烏合之眾
Chinese
| to gather in a hasty and disorderly manner, like a murder of crows | 's; him/her/it; this | numerous; multitude; crowd | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| trad. (烏合之眾/烏合之衆) | 烏合 | 之 | 眾/衆 | |
| simp. (乌合之众) | 乌合 | 之 | 众 | |
| Literally: “crowd of gathering crows”. | ||||
Etymology
From《意林》Volume I quoting Guanzi:
- 烏合之衆，初雖有歡，後必相吐。 [Traditional Chinese poetry, trad.]
- From: Guanzi, 5th century BCE to 220 CE
- Wū hé zhī zhòng, chū suī yǒu huān, hòu bì xiàng tù. [Pinyin]
- A disorderly crowd like crows may share momentary harmony at first, but will later inevitably turn on each other.
乌合之众，初虽有欢，后必相吐。 [Traditional Chinese poetry, simp.]
The quotation above cannot be found in the current version of Guanzi.
Pronunciation
- Mandarin
- (Pinyin): wūhézhīzhòng
- (Zhuyin): ㄨ ㄏㄜˊ ㄓ ㄓㄨㄥˋ
- Cantonese (Jyutping): wu1 hap6 zi1 zung3
- Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): o͘-ha̍p-chi-chiòng
- Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)+
- Hanyu Pinyin: wūhézhīzhòng
- Zhuyin: ㄨ ㄏㄜˊ ㄓ ㄓㄨㄥˋ
- Tongyong Pinyin: wuhéjhihjhòng
- Wade–Giles: wu1-ho2-chih1-chung4
- Yale: wū-hé-jr̄-jùng
- Gwoyeu Romatzyh: uherjyjonq
- Palladius: ухэчжичжун (uxɛčžičžun)
- Sinological IPA (key): /u⁵⁵ xɤ³⁵ ʈ͡ʂʐ̩⁵⁵ ʈ͡ʂʊŋ⁵¹/
- (Standard Chinese)+
- Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)+
- Jyutping: wu1 hap6 zi1 zung3
- Yale: wū hahp jī jung
- Cantonese Pinyin: wu1 hap9 dzi1 dzung3
- Guangdong Romanization: wu1 heb6 ji1 zung3
- Sinological IPA (key): /wuː⁵⁵ hɐp̚² t͡siː⁵⁵ t͡sʊŋ³³/
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)+
- Southern Min
- (Hokkien)
- Pe̍h-ōe-jī: o͘-ha̍p-chi-chiòng
- Tâi-lô: oo-ha̍p-tsi-tsiòng
- Phofsit Daibuun: o'habcicioxng
- IPA (Xiamen): /ɔ⁴⁴⁻²² hap̚⁴⁻³² t͡si⁴⁴⁻²² t͡siɔŋ²¹/
- IPA (Quanzhou): /ɔ³³ hap̚²⁴⁻² t͡si³³ t͡siɔŋ⁴¹/
- IPA (Zhangzhou): /ɔ⁴⁴⁻²² hap̚¹²¹⁻²¹ t͡si⁴⁴⁻²² t͡siɔŋ²¹/
- IPA (Taipei): /ɔ⁴⁴⁻³³ hap̚⁴⁻³² t͡si⁴⁴⁻³³ t͡siɔŋ¹¹/
- IPA (Kaohsiung): /ɔ⁴⁴⁻³³ hap̚⁴⁻³² t͡si⁴⁴⁻³³ t͡siɔŋ²¹/
- (Hokkien)
Idiom
烏合之眾
- disorderly group of people; mob; rabble
Descendants
- ⇒ Japanese: 烏合の衆 (ugō no shū)