斬草除根

See also: 斩草除根

Chinese

		behead; chop	grass; straw; draft (of a document) grass; straw; draft (of a document); careless; rough; manuscript; hasty	to root out; to remove by the roots
trad. (斬草除根)		斬	草	除根
simp. (斩草除根)		斩	草	除根
Literally: “to take out the roots while removing weeds”.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): zhǎncǎochúgēn

  (Zhuyin): ㄓㄢˇ ㄘㄠˇ ㄔㄨˊ ㄍㄣ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): zaam² cou² ceoi⁴ gan¹
• Gan (Wiktionary): zan³ cau³ qu² gien¹
• Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): chám-chháu-tû-kun / chám-chháu-tî-kin

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: zhǎncǎochúgēn [Phonetic: zháncǎochúgēn]
    • Zhuyin: ㄓㄢˇ ㄘㄠˇ ㄔㄨˊ ㄍㄣ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: jhǎncǎochúgen
    • Wade–Giles: chan³-tsʻao³-chʻu²-kên¹
    • Yale: jǎn-tsǎu-chú-gēn
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: jaantsaochwugen
    • Palladius: чжаньцаочугэнь (čžanʹcaočugɛnʹ)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ʈ͡ʂän²¹⁴⁻³⁵ t͡sʰɑʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹ ʈ͡ʂʰu³⁵ kən⁵⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: zaam² cou² ceoi⁴ gan¹
    • Yale: jáam chóu chèuih gān
    • Cantonese Pinyin: dzaam² tsou² tsoey⁴ gan¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: zam² cou² cêu⁴ gen¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡saːm³⁵ t͡sʰou̯³⁵ t͡sʰɵy̯²¹ kɐn⁵⁵/
• Gan
  • (Nanchang)
    • Wiktionary: zan³ cau³ qu² gien¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡san²¹³⁻²⁴ t͡sʰau²¹³⁻¹³ t͡ɕʰu²⁴ kiɛn⁴²/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen, General Taiwanese)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: chám-chháu-tû-kun
    • Tâi-lô: tsám-tsháu-tû-kun
    • Phofsit Daibuun: zafmzhaw'du'kwn
    • IPA (Xiamen): /t͡sam⁵³⁻⁴⁴ t͡sʰau⁵³ tu²⁴⁻²² kun⁴⁴/
    • IPA (Taipei): /t͡sam⁵³⁻⁴⁴ t͡sʰau⁵³ tu²⁴⁻¹¹ kun⁴⁴/
  • (Hokkien: General Taiwanese)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: chám-chháu-tî-kin
    • Tâi-lô: tsám-tsháu-tî-kin
    • Phofsit Daibuun: zafmzhaw'di'kyn
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /t͡sam⁴¹⁻⁴⁴ t͡sʰau⁴¹ ti²³⁻³³ kin⁴⁴/

Idiom

斬草除根

1. to root out; to nip in the bud; to eliminate completely

   • 若不斬草除根，必為喪身之本。 [Written Vernacular Chinese, trad.]
     若不斩草除根，必为丧身之本。 [Written Vernacular Chinese, simp.]

     From: Romance of the Three Kingdoms, circa 14^th century CE

     Ruò bù zhǎncǎochúgēn, bì wéi sàngshēn zhī běn. [Pinyin]

     If you don't nip this in the bud, it will eventually be the death of you.

See also

• 斬草不除根，春風吹又生／斩草不除根，春风吹又生 (zhǎn cǎo bù chúgēn, chūnfēng chuī yòu shēng)