一波三折

Chinese

		one; single; a one; single; a; (before verbs) as soon as, once; (before a noun) entire (family, etc.)	wave; (Cantonese) ball	three	tenth (in price); to break; to fold tenth (in price); to break; to fold; to turn; broken (as of rope, stick)
simp. and trad. (一波三折)		一	波	三	折
Literally: “one stroke, three changes in direction of the brush”.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): yībōsānzhé

  (Zhuyin): ㄧ ㄅㄛ ㄙㄢ ㄓㄜˊ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): jat¹ bo¹ saam¹ zit³
• Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): it-pho-sam-chiat

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: yībōsānzhé [Phonetic: yìbōsānzhé]
    • Zhuyin: ㄧ ㄅㄛ ㄙㄢ ㄓㄜˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: yibosanjhé
    • Wade–Giles: i¹-po¹-san¹-chê²
    • Yale: yī-bwō-sān-jé
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: ibosanjer
    • Palladius: ибосаньчжэ (ibosanʹčžɛ)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /i⁵⁵⁻⁵¹ pu̯ɔ⁵⁵ sän⁵⁵ ʈ͡ʂɤ³⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: jat¹ bo¹ saam¹ zit³
    • Yale: yāt bō sāam jit
    • Cantonese Pinyin: jat⁷ bo¹ saam¹ dzit⁸
    • Guangdong Romanization: yed¹ bo¹ sam¹ jid³
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /jɐt̚⁵ pɔː⁵⁵ saːm⁵⁵ t͡siːt̚³/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: it-pho-sam-chiat
    • Tâi-lô: it-pho-sam-tsiat
    • Phofsit Daibuun: itphoisamciad
    • IPA (Xiamen): /it̚³²⁻⁴ pʰo⁴⁴⁻²² sam⁴⁴⁻²² t͡siɛt̚³²/
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /it̚⁵⁻²⁴ pʰo³³ sam³³ t͡siɛt̚⁵/
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /it̚³²⁻⁵ pʰo⁴⁴⁻²² sam⁴⁴⁻²² t͡siɛt̚³²/
    • IPA (Taipei): /it̚³²⁻⁴ pʰo⁴⁴⁻³³ sam⁴⁴⁻³³ t͡siɛt̚³²/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /it̚³²⁻⁴ pʰɤ⁴⁴⁻³³ sam⁴⁴⁻³³ t͡siɛt̚³²/

Idiom

一波三折

1. (originally) calligraphic flourish with many twists
2. (figurative) to be full of ups and downs; to have many twists and turns