明珠暗投

Chinese

		shiny pearl; treasured person or thing; jewel shiny pearl; treasured person or thing; jewel; pearl	dark; gloomy; hidden dark; gloomy; hidden; secret	to throw; to send
simp. and trad. (明珠暗投)		明珠	暗	投

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): míngzhū'àntóu

  (Zhuyin): ㄇㄧㄥˊ ㄓㄨ ㄢˋ ㄊㄡˊ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): ming⁴ zyu¹ am³ tau⁴
• Southern Min (Teochew, Peng'im): mêng⁵ zu¹ am³ dao⁵

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: míngzhū'àntóu
    • Zhuyin: ㄇㄧㄥˊ ㄓㄨ ㄢˋ ㄊㄡˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: míngjhu-àntóu
    • Wade–Giles: ming²-chu¹-an⁴-tʻou²
    • Yale: míng-jū-àn-tóu
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: mingjuanntour
    • Palladius: минчжу’аньтоу (minčžu’anʹtou)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /miŋ³⁵ ʈ͡ʂu⁵⁵ ˀän⁵¹ tʰoʊ̯³⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: ming⁴ zyu¹ am³ tau⁴
    • Yale: mìhng jyū am tàuh
    • Cantonese Pinyin: ming⁴ dzy¹ am³ tau⁴
    • Guangdong Romanization: ming⁴ ju¹ em³ teo⁴
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /mɪŋ²¹ t͡syː⁵⁵ ɐm³³ tʰɐu̯²¹/
• Southern Min
  • (Teochew)
    • Peng'im: mêng⁵ zu¹ am³ dao⁵
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: mêng tsu àm tâu
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /meŋ⁵⁵⁻¹¹ t͡su³³⁻²³ am²¹³⁻⁵⁵ tau⁵⁵/

Idiom

明珠暗投

1. the talented are neglected
2. something valuable is not recognized

Descendants

• → Japanese: 明珠(めいしゅ)を闇(やみ)に投(とう)ず (meishu o yami ni tōzu) (calque)