Korean

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Etymology

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Sino-Korean word from 事大, from (serve) + (great [state]), often attributed to a saying in Mencius (translation by James Legge):

智者事大智者事大
And it requires a wise [ruler] to be able with a small State to serve a great.

Pronunciation

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  • (SK Standard/Seoul) IPA(key): [ˈsʰa̠(ː)dɛ] ~ [ˈsʰa̠(ː)de̞]
  • Phonetic hangul: [(ː)/(ː)]
    • Though still prescribed in Standard Korean, most speakers in both Koreas no longer distinguish vowel length.
Romanizations
Revised Romanization?sadae
Revised Romanization (translit.)?sadae
McCune–Reischauer?sadae
Yale Romanization?sātay

Noun

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사대 (sadae) (hanja 事大)

  1. (historical) traditional East Asian states' deferential diplomacy towards the Chinese empire
    1. in particular, Korea's traditional diplomacy towards China, in which the latter was considered the source of Korean political legitimacy
  2. (modern, critical) a sycophantic or self-effacing diplomacy towards a stronger nation
  3. any situation in which a person or country acts deferentially towards a stronger power

Derived terms

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