臥薪嘗膽

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See also: 卧薪尝胆

Chinese

		to lie; to crouch	fuel; salary	to taste; flavour; indicator of past tense to taste; flavour; indicator of past tense; already; ever; once; test; formerly	the gall; the nerve; courage the gall; the nerve; courage; guts; gall bladder
trad. (臥薪嘗膽/臥薪嚐膽)		臥	薪	嘗/嚐	膽
simp. (卧薪尝胆)		卧	薪	尝	胆
Literally: “to sleep on brushwood and taste gall”.

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臥薪嘗膽

Etymology

From the story of the King Goujian of Yue [5th BCE], who forced himself to sleep on firewood and lick a gallbladder everyday to remember the humiliation of his previous defeat by the State of Wu.

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): wòxīnchángdǎn

(Zhuyin): ㄨㄛˋ ㄒㄧㄣㄔㄤˊ ㄉㄢˇ
Cantonese (Jyutping): ngo⁶ san¹ soeng⁴ daam²

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: wòxīnchángdǎn
  - Zhuyin: ㄨㄛˋ ㄒㄧㄣㄔㄤˊ ㄉㄢˇ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: wòsinchángdǎn
  - Wade–Giles: wo⁴-hsin¹-chʻang²-tan³
  - Yale: wò-syīn-cháng-dǎn
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: wohshincharngdaan
  - Palladius: восиньчандань (vosinʹčandanʹ)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /wɔ⁵¹ ɕin⁵⁵ ʈ͡ʂʰɑŋ³⁵ tän²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: ngo⁶ san¹ soeng⁴ daam²
  - Yale: ngoh sān sèuhng dáam
  - Cantonese Pinyin: ngo⁶ san¹ soeng⁴ daam²
  - Guangdong Romanization: ngo⁶ sen¹ sêng⁴ dam²
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ŋɔː²² sɐn⁵⁵ sœːŋ²¹ taːm³⁵/

Idiom

臥薪嘗膽

to undergo self-imposed hardships; to nurse vengeance; to endure hardships to accomplish some ambition

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (臥薪嘗膽):

→ Japanese: 臥(が)薪(しん)嘗(しょう)胆(たん) (gashinshōtan)
→ Korean: 와신상담(臥薪嘗膽) (wasinsangdam)
→ Vietnamese: ngọa tân thường đảm (臥薪嘗膽)

→ Vietnamese: nằm gai nếm mật, nếm mật nằm gai (calques)

Japanese

For pronunciation and definitions of 臥薪嘗膽 – see the following entry.

【臥薪嘗胆がしんしょうたん】

[idiom] to undergo self-imposed hardships to achieve vengeance

(This term, 臥薪嘗膽, is the kyūjitai of the above term.)

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