天高地厚

Chinese

		day; sky; heaven	high; tall	earth; ground; field earth; ground; field; place; land; (subor. part. adverbial); ‑ly	generous; thick (for flat things)
trad. (天高地厚)		天	高	地	厚
simp. #(天高地厚)		天	高	地	厚
Literally: “as high as the heavens and as deep as the earth”.

Etymology

From the Classic of Poetry, poem 192 (《詩經·小雅·正月》):

謂天蓋高，不敢不局。
謂地蓋厚，不敢不蹐。 [Pre-Classical Chinese, trad.]

---

谓天盖高，不敢不局。
谓地盖厚，不敢不蹐。 [Pre-Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: The Classic of Poetry, c. 11^th – 7^th centuries BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

Wèi tiān gài gāo, bùgǎn bù jú.
Wèi dì gài hòu, bùgǎn bù jí. [Pinyin]

We say of the heavens that they are high,
But I dare not but stoop under them.
We say of the earth that it is thick,
But I dare not but walk daintily on it.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): tiāngāodìhòu

  (Zhuyin): ㄊㄧㄢ ㄍㄠ ㄉㄧˋ ㄏㄡˋ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): tin¹ gou¹ dei⁶ hau⁵
• Southern Min (Teochew, Peng'im): tiang¹ gao¹ di⁷ gao⁶

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: tiāngāodìhòu
    • Zhuyin: ㄊㄧㄢ ㄍㄠ ㄉㄧˋ ㄏㄡˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: tiangaodìhòu
    • Wade–Giles: tʻien¹-kao¹-ti⁴-hou⁴
    • Yale: tyān-gāu-dì-hòu
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: tiangaudihhow
    • Palladius: тяньгаодихоу (tjanʹgaodixou)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /tʰi̯ɛn⁵⁵ kɑʊ̯⁵⁵ ti⁵¹⁻⁵³ xoʊ̯⁵¹/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: tin¹ gou¹ dei⁶ hau⁵
    • Yale: tīn gōu deih háuh
    • Cantonese Pinyin: tin¹ gou¹ dei⁶ hau⁵
    • Guangdong Romanization: tin¹ gou¹ déi⁶ heo⁵
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /tʰiːn⁵⁵ kou̯⁵⁵ tei̯²² hɐu̯¹³/
• Southern Min
  • (Teochew)
    • Peng'im: tiang¹ gao¹ di⁷ gao⁶
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: thiang kau tī kău
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /tʰiaŋ³³⁻²³ kau³³ ti¹¹ kau³⁵/

Idiom

天高地厚

1. profound; deep (of kindness)
2. complexity of things

Derived terms

• 不知天高地厚 (bùzhī tiāngāodìhòu)