上知天文，下知地理

Chinese

		up; on; on top up; on; on top; upon; first; previous or last; upper; higher; above; previous; to climb; to go into; to go up	to know; to be aware	astronomy; celestial objects; the heavens		under; next; lower under; next; lower; below; underneath; down(wards); to go down; latter	to know; to be aware	geography; geographical features; topography
trad. (上知天文，下知地理)		上	知	天文	，	下	知	地理
simp. #(上知天文，下知地理)		上	知	天文	，	下	知	地理
Literally: “know the astronomy above, and know the geography below”.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): shàng zhī tiānwén, xià zhī dìlǐ

  (Zhuyin): ㄕㄤˋ ㄓ ㄊㄧㄢ ㄨㄣˊ , ㄒㄧㄚˋ ㄓ ㄉㄧˋ ㄌㄧˇ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): soeng⁶ zi¹ tin¹ man⁴, haa⁶ zi¹ dei⁶ lei⁵

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: shàng zhī tiānwén, xià zhī dìlǐ
    • Zhuyin: ㄕㄤˋ ㄓ ㄊㄧㄢ ㄨㄣˊ , ㄒㄧㄚˋ ㄓ ㄉㄧˋ ㄌㄧˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: shàng jhih tianwún, sià jhih dìlǐ
    • Wade–Giles: shang⁴ chih¹ tʻien¹-wên², hsia⁴ chih¹ ti⁴-li³
    • Yale: shàng jr̄ tyān-wén-, syà jr̄ dì-lǐ
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: shanq jy tianwen, shiah jy dihlii
    • Palladius: шан чжи тяньвэнь, ся чжи дили (šan čži tjanʹvɛnʹ, sja čži dili)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ʂɑŋ⁵¹ ʈ͡ʂʐ̩⁵⁵ tʰi̯ɛn⁵⁵ wən³⁵ ɕi̯ä⁵¹ ʈ͡ʂʐ̩⁵⁵ ti⁵¹ li²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: soeng⁶ zi¹ tin¹ man⁴, haa⁶ zi¹ dei⁶ lei⁵
    • Yale: seuhng jī tīn màhn, hah jī deih léih
    • Cantonese Pinyin: soeng⁶ dzi¹ tin¹ man⁴, haa⁶ dzi¹ dei⁶ lei⁵
    • Guangdong Romanization: sêng⁶ ji¹ tin¹ men⁴, ha⁶ ji¹ déi⁶ léi⁵
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /sœːŋ²² t͡siː⁵⁵ tʰiːn⁵⁵ mɐn²¹ haː²² t͡siː⁵⁵ tei̯²² lei̯¹³/

Idiom

上知天文，下知地理

1. describes someone who is very learned; a polymath