東道主

See also: 东道主

Chinese

		host	to own; to host; master to own; to host; master; lord; primary
trad. (東道主)		東道	主
simp. (东道主)		东道	主

Etymology

Attested in Zuo Zhuan (circa 4th century B.C.E.), in the entry for the 30th year of Duke Xi's reign (《左傳·僖公三十年》):

若捨鄭以為東道主，行李之往來，共其乏困，君亦無所害。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]

---

若舍郑以为东道主，行李之往来，共其乏困，君亦无所害。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: Commentary of Zuo, c. 4^th century BCE

Ruò shě Zhèng yǐwéi dōngdàozhǔ, xínglǐ zhī wǎnglái, gòng qí fákùn, jūn yì wú suǒ hài. [Pinyin]

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 idiomatically as a generic term for a host.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): dōngdàozhǔ

  (Zhuyin): ㄉㄨㄥ ㄉㄠˋ ㄓㄨˇ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): dung¹ dou⁶ zyu²

• Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): tong-tǒ͘-chú / tong-tō-chú

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: dōngdàozhǔ
    • Zhuyin: ㄉㄨㄥ ㄉㄠˋ ㄓㄨˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: dongdàojhǔ
    • Wade–Giles: tung¹-tao⁴-chu³
    • Yale: dūng-dàu-jǔ
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: dongdawjuu
    • Palladius: дундаочжу (dundaočžu)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /tʊŋ⁵⁵ tɑʊ̯⁵¹ ʈ͡ʂu²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: dung¹ dou⁶ zyu²
    • Yale: dūng douh jyú
    • Cantonese Pinyin: dung¹ dou⁶ dzy²
    • Guangdong Romanization: dung¹ dou⁶ ju²
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /tʊŋ⁵⁵ tou̯²² t͡syː³⁵/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: Quanzhou)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: tong-tǒ͘-chú
    • Tâi-lô: tong-tǒo-tsú
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /tɔŋ³³ tɔ²² t͡su⁵⁵⁴/
  • (Hokkien: General Taiwanese, Xiamen, Zhangzhou)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: tong-tō-chú
    • Tâi-lô: tong-tō-tsú
    • Phofsit Daibuun: dongdoixzuo
    • IPA (Taipei): /tɔŋ⁴⁴⁻³³ to³³⁻¹¹ t͡su⁵³/
    • IPA (Xiamen, Zhangzhou): /tɔŋ⁴⁴⁻²² to²²⁻²¹ t͡su⁵³/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /tɔŋ⁴⁴⁻³³ tɤ³³⁻²¹ t͡su⁴¹/

---

• Middle Chinese: tuwng dawX tsyuX

Rime
Character	東	道	主
Reading #	1/1	1/1	1/1
Initial (聲)	端 (5)	定 (7)	章 (23)
Final (韻)	東 (1)	豪 (89)	虞 (24)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)	Rising (X)	Rising (X)
Openness (開合)	Open	Open	Closed
Division (等)	I	I	III
Fanqie	德紅切	徒晧切	之庾切
Baxter	tuwng	dawX	tsyuX
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/tuŋ/	/dɑuX/	/t͡ɕɨoX/
Pan Wuyun	/tuŋ/	/dɑuX/	/t͡ɕioX/
Shao Rongfen	/tuŋ/	/dɑuX/	/t͡ɕioX/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/təwŋ/	/dawX/	/cuə̆X/
Li Rong	/tuŋ/	/dɑuX/	/t͡ɕioX/
Wang Li	/tuŋ/	/dɑuX/	/t͡ɕĭuX/
Bernard Karlgren	/tuŋ/	/dʱɑuX/	/t͡ɕi̯uX/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	dōng	dào	zhǔ
Expected Cantonese Reflex	dung1	dou6	zyu2

• Old Chinese

  (Baxter–Sagart): /*tˤoŋ  [kə.l]ˤuʔ  toʔ/

  (Zhengzhang): /*toːŋ  l'uːʔ  tjoʔ/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	東	道	主
Reading #	1/1	2/2	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	dōng	dào	zhǔ
Middle Chinese	‹ tuwng ›	‹ dawX ›	‹ tsyuX ›
Old Chinese	/*tˁoŋ/ (< *tˁoŋʔ ?)	/*[kə.l]ˁuʔ/	/*toʔ/
English	east	way	master; host
Notes for Old Chinese notations in the Baxter–Sagart system: * Parentheses "()" indicate uncertain presence; * Square brackets "[]" indicate uncertain identity, e.g. *[t] as coda may in fact be *-t or *-p; * Angle brackets "<>" indicate infix; * Hyphen "-" indicates morpheme boundary; * Period "." indicates syllable boundary.

Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character	東	道	主
Reading #	1/1	1/1	1/1
No.	2435	11669	17618
Phonetic component	東	首	主
Rime group	東	幽	侯
Rime subdivision	0	1	0
Corresponding MC rime	東	道	主
Old Chinese	/*toːŋ/	/*l'uːʔ/	/*tjoʔ/
Notes	種（種籽）初文，甲金文象種皮甲坼萌生根芽， 參敕字陳字注

Noun

東道主

1. host (person who receives or entertains other people as guests)

   • 萬國爭推東道主 [MSC, trad.]
     万国争推东道主 [MSC, simp.]

     From: c. 1890, 黃遵憲 (Huang Zunxian), 〈蘇彝士河〉 ("Suez Canal")

     wànguó zhēng tuī dōngdàozhǔ [Pinyin]

     Nations vie for the host's privilege.

Usage notes

Some dictionaries classify 東道主／东道主 (dōngdàozhǔ) as a chengyu, albeit a three-character one.

Synonyms

• 主人 (zhǔrén)
• 主人公 (zhǔréngōng) (literary, honorific)
• 主人翁 (zhǔrénwēng) (literary, honorific)
• 東人／东人 (dōngrén) (archaic)
• 東家／东家 (dōngjiā)
• 東道／东道 (dōngdào)
• 東道主人／东道主人 (dōngdào zhǔrén)