九五

Chinese

		nine	five
simp. and trad. (九五)		九	五
Literally: “nine (in the) fifth (position)”.

Etymology

The first hexagram of the I Ching (䷀) is six solid bars from bottom to top. In I Ching divination, a value of nine corresponds to a solid bar (old yang: i.e. yang changing into yin). In the I Ching commentary for the first hexagram, it notes that a value of nine in the fifth position (the second bar from the top) has the following meaning:

飛龍在天，利見大人 [Pre-Classical Chinese, trad.]

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飞龙在天，利见大人 [Pre-Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: I Ching, 11^th – 8^th century BCE

fēi lóng zài tiān, lì jiàn dàrén [Pinyin]

The flying dragon is in the heavens, which helps it to see a great man

As a result of the symbolism of the wording in the commentary, this term eventually came to be associated with the emperor.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): jiǔwǔ

  (Zhuyin): ㄐㄧㄡˇ ㄨˇ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): gau² ng⁵

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: jiǔwǔ [Phonetic: jiúwǔ]
    • Zhuyin: ㄐㄧㄡˇ ㄨˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: jiǒuwǔ
    • Wade–Giles: chiu³-wu³
    • Yale: jyǒu-wǔ
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: jeouwuu
    • Palladius: цзюу (czjuu)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡ɕi̯oʊ̯²¹⁴⁻³⁵ u²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: gau² ng⁵
    • Yale: gáu ńgh
    • Cantonese Pinyin: gau² ng⁵
    • Guangdong Romanization: geo² ng⁵
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /kɐu̯³⁵ ŋ̍¹³/

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• Middle Chinese: kjuwX nguX

Rime
Character	九	五
Reading #	1/1	1/1
Initial (聲)	見 (28)	疑 (31)
Final (韻)	尤 (136)	模 (23)
Tone (調)	Rising (X)	Rising (X)
Openness (開合)	Open	Open
Division (等)	III	I
Fanqie	舉有切	疑古切
Baxter	kjuwX	nguX
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/kɨuX/	/ŋuoX/
Pan Wuyun	/kiuX/	/ŋuoX/
Shao Rongfen	/kiəuX/	/ŋoX/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/kuwX/	/ŋɔX/
Li Rong	/kiuX/	/ŋoX/
Wang Li	/kĭəuX/	/ŋuX/
Bernard Karlgren	/ki̯ə̯uX/	/ŋuoX/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	jiǔ	wǔ
Expected Cantonese Reflex	gau2	ng5

• Old Chinese

  (Baxter–Sagart): /*[k]uʔ  C.ŋˤaʔ/

  (Zhengzhang): /*kuʔ  ŋaːʔ/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	九	五
Reading #	1/1	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	jiǔ	wǔ
Middle Chinese	‹ kjuwX ›	‹ nguX ›
Old Chinese	/*[k]uʔ/	/*C.ŋˁaʔ/
English	nine	five
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	九	五
Reading #	1/1	1/1
No.	6941	13147
Phonetic component	九	五
Rime group	幽	魚
Rime subdivision	1	0
Corresponding MC rime	久	五
Old Chinese	/*kuʔ/	/*ŋaːʔ/

Noun

九五

1. (archaic) the emperor

the fifth bar (the second from the top) is a solid line, and has a numerical value of nine (old yang)

Derived terms

• 九五之位
• 九五之尊 (jiǔwǔzhīzūn)