四夷

Chinese

		four	safe; to raze; to exterminate safe; to raze; to exterminate; barbarian
simp. and trad. (四夷)		四	夷

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): sìyí

  (Zhuyin): ㄙˋ ㄧˊ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): sei³ ji⁴

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: sìyí
    • Zhuyin: ㄙˋ ㄧˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: sìhyí
    • Wade–Giles: ssŭ⁴-i²
    • Yale: sz̀-yí
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: syhyi
    • Palladius: сыи (syi)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /sz̩⁵¹ i³⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: sei³ ji⁴
    • Yale: sei yìh
    • Cantonese Pinyin: sei³ ji⁴
    • Guangdong Romanization: séi³ yi⁴
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /sei̯³³ jiː²¹/

Noun

四夷

1. (chiefly historical) the four barbarian tribes on the borders

   • 然則王之所大欲可知已。欲辟土地，朝秦楚，蒞中國而撫四夷也。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     然则王之所大欲可知已。欲辟土地，朝秦楚，莅中国而抚四夷也。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: Mencius, c. 4^th century BCE

     Ránzé wáng zhī suǒ dà yù kě zhī yǐ. Yù pì tǔdì, cháo Qín Chǔ, lì Zhōngguó ér fǔ sìyí yě. [Pinyin]

     Then, what your Majesty greatly desires may be known. You wish to enlarge your territories, to have Qin and Chu wait at your court, to rule the Middle Kingdom, and to attract to you the barbarous tribes that surround it.

2. (Buddhism) Synonym of 四夷戒
3. (Buddhism) Synonym of 四波羅夷／四波罗夷 (sì bōluóyí)

Usage notes

The term includes 東夷／东夷 (Dōngyí), 西戎 (Xīróng), 南蠻／南蛮 (Nánmán) and 北狄 (Běidí).