此地無銀三百兩

See also: 此地无银三百两

Chinese

		this place; here	does not exist	silver	three	hundred	tael(s)
trad. (此地無銀三百兩/此地無銀三百両)		此地	無	銀	三	百	兩/両
simp. (此地无银三百两)		此地	无	银	三	百	两
Literally: “There are no 300 taels of silver (buried) here.”

Etymology

The first half of a longer sentence: 此地無銀三百兩，隔壁王二不曾偷 (cǐdì wú yín sān bǎi liǎng, gébì Wáng Èr bùcéng tōu), literally “There are no 300 taels of silver (buried) here. The neighbour Wang Er did not steal (the silver).”

It is said to come from a story about a man named Zhang San (張三). According to the story, he buried 300 taels of silver in the ground with the banner “There are no 300 taels of silver (buried) here” so that no one would steal them. But his neighbor Wang Er (王二) saw through the lie and dug up the money, leaving the banner “Your neighbour Wang Er did not steal (the silver)”.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): cǐdì wú yín sān bǎi liǎng

  (Zhuyin): ㄘˇ ㄉㄧˋ ㄨˊ ㄧㄣˊ ㄙㄢ ㄅㄞˇ ㄌㄧㄤˇ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): ci² dei⁶ mou⁴ ngan⁴ saam¹ baak³ loeng^5-2

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: cǐdì wú yín sān bǎi liǎng [Phonetic: cǐdìwúyínsānbáiliǎng]
    • Zhuyin: ㄘˇ ㄉㄧˋ ㄨˊ ㄧㄣˊ ㄙㄢ ㄅㄞˇ ㄌㄧㄤˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: cǐhdì wú yín san bǎi liǎng
    • Wade–Giles: tzʻŭ³-ti⁴ wu² yin² san¹ pai³ liang³
    • Yale: tsž-dì wú yín sān bǎi lyǎng
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: tsyydih wu yn san bae leang
    • Palladius: цыди у инь сань бай лян (cydi u inʹ sanʹ baj ljan)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sʰz̩²¹⁴⁻²¹ ti⁵¹ u³⁵ in³⁵ sän⁵⁵ paɪ̯²¹⁴⁻³⁵ li̯ɑŋ²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: ci² dei⁶ mou⁴ ngan⁴ saam¹ baak³ loeng^5-2
    • Yale: chí deih mòuh ngàhn sāam baak léung
    • Cantonese Pinyin: tsi² dei⁶ mou⁴ ngan⁴ saam¹ baak⁸ loeng^5-2
    • Guangdong Romanization: qi² déi⁶ mou⁴ ngen⁴ sam¹ bag³ lêng^5-2
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sʰiː³⁵ tei̯²² mou̯²¹ ŋɐn²¹ saːm⁵⁵ paːk̚³ lœːŋ¹³⁻³⁵/

Idiom

此地無銀三百兩

1. a clumsy denial resulting in self-exposure; a very poor lie which reveals the truth; protest one's innocence too much; the lady doth protest too much

Synonyms

• 欲蓋彌彰／欲盖弥彰 (yùgàimízhāng)