貧賤夫妻百事哀

Chinese

		poor and lowly	husband and wife; married couple	a myriad number of issues; all kinds of matters	sorrow; grief; pity sorrow; grief; pity; to grieve for; to pity; to lament
trad. (貧賤夫妻百事哀)		貧賤	夫妻	百事	哀
simp. (贫贱夫妻百事哀)		贫贱	夫妻	百事	哀
Literally: “For poor couples, everything is sorrowful.”

Etymology

Misinterpretation of a verse by the Tang dynasty poet Yuan Zhen. The original meaning in the poem is irrelevant to the modern meaning.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): pínjiàn fūqī bǎishì āi

  (Zhuyin): ㄆㄧㄣˊ ㄐㄧㄢˋ ㄈㄨ ㄑㄧ ㄅㄞˇ ㄕˋ ㄞ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): pan⁴ zin⁶ fu¹ cai¹ baak³ si⁶ oi¹

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: pínjiàn fūqī bǎishì āi
    • Zhuyin: ㄆㄧㄣˊ ㄐㄧㄢˋ ㄈㄨ ㄑㄧ ㄅㄞˇ ㄕˋ ㄞ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: pínjiàn fuci bǎishìh ai
    • Wade–Giles: pʻin²-chien⁴ fu¹-chʻi¹ pai³-shih⁴ ai¹
    • Yale: pín-jyàn fū-chī bǎi-shr̀ āi
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: pynjiann fuchi baeshyh ai
    • Palladius: пиньцзянь фуци байши ай (pinʹczjanʹ fuci bajši aj)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /pʰin³⁵ t͡ɕi̯ɛn⁵¹ fu⁵⁵ t͡ɕʰi⁵⁵ paɪ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹ ʂʐ̩⁵¹ ˀaɪ̯⁵⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: pan⁴ zin⁶ fu¹ cai¹ baak³ si⁶ oi¹
    • Yale: pàhn jihn fū chāi baak sih ōi
    • Cantonese Pinyin: pan⁴ dzin⁶ fu¹ tsai¹ baak⁸ si⁶ oi¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: pen⁴ jin⁶ fu¹ cei¹ bag³ xi⁶ oi¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /pʰɐn²¹ t͡siːn²² fuː⁵⁵ t͡sʰɐi̯⁵⁵ paːk̚³ siː²² ɔːi̯⁵⁵/

Proverb

貧賤夫妻百事哀

1. Poverty destroys marriage.