三人行，必有我師

Chinese

		three people walking together; threesome		certainly; must; will certainly; must; will; necessarily	to have; there is; there are to have; there is; there are; to exist; to be	I; me	a division (milit.); teacher; master a division (milit.); teacher; master; expert; model
trad. (三人行，必有我師)		三人行	，	必	有	我	師
simp. (三人行，必有我师)		三人行	，	必	有	我	师

Etymology

From the Analects, Book 7 (《論語·述而》):

子曰：「三人行，必有我師焉。擇其善者而從之，其不善者而改之。」 [Classical Chinese, trad.]

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子曰：「三人行，必有我师焉。择其善者而从之，其不善者而改之。」 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: The Analects of Confucius, c. 475 – 221 BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

Zǐ yuē: “Sān rén xíng, bì yǒu wǒ shī yān. Zé qí shàn zhě ér cóng zhī, qí bùshàn zhě ér gǎi zhī.” [Pinyin]

The Master said, "When I walk along with two others, they may serve me as my teachers. I will select their good qualities and follow them, their bad qualities and avoid them."

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): sānrénxíng, bì yǒu wǒ shī

  (Zhuyin): ㄙㄢ ㄖㄣˊ ㄒㄧㄥˊ , ㄅㄧˋ ㄧㄡˇ ㄨㄛˇ ㄕ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): saam¹ jan⁴ hang⁴, bit¹ jau⁵ ngo⁵ si¹

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: sānrénxíng, bì yǒu wǒ shī [Phonetic: sānrénxíng,bìyóuwǒshī]
    • Zhuyin: ㄙㄢ ㄖㄣˊ ㄒㄧㄥˊ , ㄅㄧˋ ㄧㄡˇ ㄨㄛˇ ㄕ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: sanrénsíng, bì yǒu wǒ shih
    • Wade–Giles: san¹-jên²-hsing², pi⁴ yu³ wo³ shih¹
    • Yale: sān-rén-syíng-, bì yǒu wǒ shr̄
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: sanrenshyng, bih yeou woo shy
    • Palladius: саньжэньсин, би ю во ши (sanʹžɛnʹsin, bi ju vo ši)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /sän⁵⁵ ʐən³⁵ ɕiŋ³⁵ pi⁵¹ joʊ̯²¹⁴⁻³⁵ wɔ²¹⁴⁻²¹ ʂʐ̩⁵⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: saam¹ jan⁴ hang⁴, bit¹ jau⁵ ngo⁵ si¹
    • Yale: sāam yàhn hàhng, bīt yáuh ngóh sī
    • Cantonese Pinyin: saam¹ jan⁴ hang⁴, bit⁷ jau⁵ ngo⁵ si¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: sam¹ yen⁴ heng⁴, bid¹ yeo⁵ ngo⁵ xi¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /saːm⁵⁵ jɐn²¹ hɐŋ²¹ piːt̚⁵ jɐu̯¹³ ŋɔː¹³ siː⁵⁵/

Proverb

三人行，必有我師

1. there is always someone that one can learn from among a group of people