三釁三沐

Chinese

		three	offer blood in sacrifice	three	bathe; cleanse; receive favours
trad. (三釁三沐)		三	釁	三	沐
simp. (三衅三沐)		三	衅	三	沐

Etymology

From an anecdote recorded in the Guoyu, describing the honour given to Guan Zhong by the Duke of Qi upon receiving him as a former enemy and fugitive. The original text reads 三釁三浴, where 浴 (OC *loɡ, “bathing”) appears instead of 沐 (OC *moːɡ, “hair-washing”).

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): sānxìnsānmù

  (Zhuyin): ㄙㄢ ㄒㄧㄣˋ ㄙㄢ ㄇㄨˋ

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: sānxìnsānmù
    • Zhuyin: ㄙㄢ ㄒㄧㄣˋ ㄙㄢ ㄇㄨˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: sansìnsanmù
    • Wade–Giles: san¹-hsin⁴-san¹-mu⁴
    • Yale: sān-syìn-sān-mù
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: sanshinnsanmuh
    • Palladius: саньсиньсаньму (sanʹsinʹsanʹmu)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /sän⁵⁵ ɕin⁵¹ sän⁵⁵ mu⁵¹/

Idiom

三釁三沐

1. to be respectful; to be courteous

Synonyms

• 三沐三薰／三沐三熏 (sānmùsānxūn)
• 三薰三沐／三熏三沐 (sānxūnsānmù)