高屋建瓴

Chinese

		high; tall	house; room	to establish; to found; to set up to establish; to found; to set up; to build; to construct	concave channels of tiling
trad. (高屋建瓴)		高	屋	建	瓴
simp. #(高屋建瓴)		高	屋	建	瓴
Literally: “to pour water off a steep roof”.

Etymology

From 《史記·高祖本紀》 (Records of the Grand Historian: Annals of Gaozu).

地勢便利，其以下兵於諸侯，譬猶居高屋之上建瓴水也。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]

---

地势便利，其以下兵于诸侯，譬犹居高屋之上建瓴水也。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: The Records of the Grand Historian, by Sima Qian, c. 91 BCE

Dìshì biànlì, qí yǐ xià bīng yú zhūhóu, pìyóu jū gāo wū zhī shàng jiàn líng shuǐ yě. [Pinyin]

(please add an English translation of this usage example)

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): gāowūjiànlíng

  (Zhuyin): ㄍㄠ ㄨ ㄐㄧㄢˋ ㄌㄧㄥˊ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): gou¹ uk¹ gin³ ling⁴

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: gāowūjiànlíng
    • Zhuyin: ㄍㄠ ㄨ ㄐㄧㄢˋ ㄌㄧㄥˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: gaowujiànlíng
    • Wade–Giles: kao¹-wu¹-chien⁴-ling²
    • Yale: gāu-wū-jyàn-líng
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: gauujiannling
    • Palladius: гао’уцзяньлин (gao’uczjanʹlin)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /kɑʊ̯⁵⁵ u⁵⁵ t͡ɕi̯ɛn⁵¹ liŋ³⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: gou¹ uk¹ gin³ ling⁴
    • Yale: gōu ūk gin lìhng
    • Cantonese Pinyin: gou¹ uk⁷ gin³ ling⁴
    • Guangdong Romanization: gou¹ ug¹ gin³ ling⁴
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /kou̯⁵⁵ ʊk̚⁵ kiːn³³ lɪŋ²¹/

Idiom

高屋建瓴

1. to sweep down irresistibly from a commanding height; to operate from a strategically advantageous position

Synonyms

• 建瓴高屋 (jiànlínggāowū)
• 屋上建瓴 (wūshàngjiànlíng)