爛柯
Chinese
editrotten; decayed; well-cooked rotten; decayed; well-cooked; mushy; broken; bad; to decay; completely |
handle of axe; stem | ||
---|---|---|---|
trad. (爛柯) | 爛 | 柯 | |
simp. (烂柯) | 烂 | 柯 | |
Literally: “rotten axe handle”. |
Etymology
editFrom the story of the woodcutter Wang Zhi (王質) during the Western Jin dynasty. See Ranka (legend) on Wikipedia for more.
Pronunciation
edit- Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)+
- Hanyu Pinyin:
- Zhuyin: ㄌㄢˋ ㄎㄜ
- Tongyong Pinyin: lànke
- Wade–Giles: lan4-kʻo1
- Yale: làn-kē
- Gwoyeu Romatzyh: lannke
- Palladius: ланькэ (lanʹkɛ)
- Sinological IPA (key): /län⁵¹ kʰɤ⁵⁵/
- (Standard Chinese)+
- Middle Chinese: lanH ka
Noun
edit爛柯
- (literary, figurative) fleeting passage of time; unpredictable changes of the world
Derived terms
editVerb
edit爛柯
- (literary, figurative) to play chess