死諸葛走生仲達

Chinese

		to die; impassable; uncrossable to die; impassable; uncrossable; inflexible; rigid	Zhuge Liang	to walk; to go; to move to walk; to go; to move; to leave	to be born; to give birth; life to be born; to give birth; life; to grow; student; raw	courtesy name of Sima Yi
trad. (死諸葛走生仲達)		死	諸葛	走	生	仲達
simp. (死诸葛走生仲达)		死	诸葛	走	生	仲达
Literally: “Deceased Zhu Geliang scares away Sima Yi”.

Etymology

From Zhuge Liang's Northern Expeditions during the Three Kingdoms period. At his fifth expedition, Zhuge Liang, who served as the imperial chancellor of Shu Han, died. Shu Han's expedition force retreated without announcing Zhuge Liang's death. His opponent, Cao Wei general Sima Yi, was unaware of Zhuge Liang's death and suspected the sudden retreat as a plot, thus unable to pursue Shu Han forces.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): sǐ zhūgé zǒu shēng zhòngdá

  (Zhuyin): ㄙˇ ㄓㄨ ㄍㄜˊ ㄗㄡˇ ㄕㄥ ㄓㄨㄥˋ ㄉㄚˊ

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: sǐ zhūgé zǒu shēng zhòngdá
    • Zhuyin: ㄙˇ ㄓㄨ ㄍㄜˊ ㄗㄡˇ ㄕㄥ ㄓㄨㄥˋ ㄉㄚˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: sǐh jhugé zǒu sheng jhòngdá
    • Wade–Giles: ssŭ³ chu¹-ko² tsou³ shêng¹ chung⁴-ta²
    • Yale: sž jū-gé dzǒu shēng jùng-dá
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: syy juger tzoou sheng jonqdar
    • Palladius: сы чжугэ цзоу шэн чжунда (sy čžugɛ czou šɛn čžunda)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /sz̩²¹⁴⁻²¹ ʈ͡ʂu⁵⁵ kɤ³⁵ t͡soʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹ ʂɤŋ⁵⁵ ʈ͡ʂʊŋ⁵¹ tä³⁵/

Idiom

死諸葛走生仲達

1. to deter someone else using cheap, low-skill tricks by a clever person