东道主

Mandarin

simpl.		东道主
trad.		東道主

Etymology

From Classical Chinese, c. 4th century BCE. Attested in the Chronicle of Zuo (or the Zuo Zhuan), in the entry for the 30th year of Duke Xi's reign (《左传·僖公三十年》): 若捨鄭以爲東道主，行李之往來，共其乏困，君亦無所害。(If you would spare Zheng as a host of the eastern roads, we are willing to provide hospitability and aid to your eastbound diplomatic missions. There could be no harm to you in this.) Uttered by Zhu Zhiwu (燭之武), a Zheng courtier, during his negotiation with the Count Mu of Qin (秦穆公) who was laying siege to the state of Zheng. Later used idomatically as a generic term for a host.

Pronunciation

• IPA: [ tʊŋ˥˥tao˥˩tʂu˨˩˦ ]

• Audio

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Noun

东道主 (simplified, Pinyin dōngdàozhǔ, traditional 東道主)

1. (Advanced Mandarin) host
   • c. 1890, Huang Zunxian (黃遵憲)， Suez Canal (蘇彝士河), in Renjinglu Poem Manuscripts (《人境廬詩草》), Book VI:

     萬國爭推東道主

     Nations vie for the host's privilege.

References

• 1985, Jingrong (ed.) Wu, The Pinyin CHINESE-ENGLISH DICTIONARY (in Mandarin/English), Beijing, Hong Kong: The Commercial Press, ISBN 0471867969:
• 2000, Jingmin (ed.) Shao, HSK Dictionary (HSK汉语水平考试词典) (in Mandarin/English), Shanghai: Huadong Teachers College Publishers, ISBN 7561720785: