順藤摸瓜

Chinese

		to obey; to follow; to arrange to obey; to follow; to arrange; to make reasonable; along; favourable	rattan; cane	feel with the hand; to touch; to stroke feel with the hand; to touch; to stroke; to grope; to feel (one's pulse); imitate; copy	melon; claw; gourd melon; claw; gourd; squash
trad. (順藤摸瓜)		順	藤	摸	瓜
simp. (顺藤摸瓜)		顺	藤	摸	瓜
Literally: “to get to the melon by tracking the vines”.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): shùnténgmōguā

  (Zhuyin): ㄕㄨㄣˋ ㄊㄥˊ ㄇㄛ ㄍㄨㄚ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): seon⁶ tang⁴ mo² gwaa¹
• Southern Min (Teochew, Peng'im): sung⁶ ding⁵ mong⁵ guê¹

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: shùnténgmōguā
    • Zhuyin: ㄕㄨㄣˋ ㄊㄥˊ ㄇㄛ ㄍㄨㄚ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: shùnténgmogua
    • Wade–Giles: shun⁴-tʻêng²-mo¹-kua¹
    • Yale: shwùn-téng-mwō-gwā
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: shuennterngmhogua
    • Palladius: шуньтэнмогуа (šunʹtɛnmogua)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ʂu̯ən⁵¹ tʰɤŋ³⁵ mu̯ɔ⁵⁵ ku̯ä⁵⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: seon⁶ tang⁴ mo² gwaa¹
    • Yale: seuhn tàhng mó gwā
    • Cantonese Pinyin: soen⁶ tang⁴ mo² gwaa¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: sên⁶ teng⁴ mo² gua¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /sɵn²² tʰɐŋ²¹ mɔː³⁵ kʷaː⁵⁵/
• Southern Min
  • (Teochew)
    • Peng'im: sung⁶ ding⁵ mong⁵ guê¹
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: sŭng tîng mông kue
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /suŋ³⁵⁻¹¹ tiŋ⁵⁵⁻¹¹ moŋ⁵⁵⁻¹¹ kue³³/

Idiom

順藤摸瓜

1. to follow the clues to get to the bottom of a matter or to thoroughly inquire into a matter