娶妻娶德

Chinese

		to marry a wife; to take a wife	take a wife	Germany; virtue; goodness Germany; virtue; goodness; morality; ethics; kindness; favour; character; kind
trad. (娶妻娶德)		娶妻	娶	德
simp. #(娶妻娶德)		娶妻	娶	德
Literally: “take wife, take virtue”.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): qǔqīqǔdé

  (Zhuyin): ㄑㄩˇ ㄑㄧ ㄑㄩˇ ㄉㄜˊ

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: qǔqīqǔdé
    • Zhuyin: ㄑㄩˇ ㄑㄧ ㄑㄩˇ ㄉㄜˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: cyǔcicyǔdé
    • Wade–Giles: chʻü³-chʻi¹-chʻü³-tê²
    • Yale: chyǔ-chī-chyǔ-dé
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: cheuchicheuder
    • Palladius: цюйцицюйдэ (cjujcicjujdɛ)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡ɕʰy²¹⁴⁻²¹ t͡ɕʰi⁵⁵ t͡ɕʰy²¹⁴⁻²¹ tɤ³⁵/

Proverb

娶妻娶德

1. marry a woman for her morality (rather than beauty)

Usage notes

Sometimes used in combination with 納妾納色／纳妾纳色 (literally "take concubine, take appearance") as 娶妻娶德，納妾納色／娶妻娶德，纳妾纳色 ("when taking a [principal] wife, take the one furnished with morality; when taking a minor wife, take the one blessed with beauty").