不撞南牆不回頭

Chinese

		not; no	to hit; to strike; to meet by accident to hit; to strike; to meet by accident; to run into; to bump against; to bump into	south	wall	not; no	to turn round; to turn one's head back; to repent
trad. (不撞南牆不回頭)		不	撞	南	牆	不	回頭
simp. (不撞南墙不回头)		不	撞	南	墙	不	回头
Literally: “to not turn one's head back until one hits the south wall”.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): bù zhuàng nánqiáng bù huítóu

  (Zhuyin): ㄅㄨˋ ㄓㄨㄤˋ ㄋㄢˊ ㄑㄧㄤˊ ㄅㄨˋ ㄏㄨㄟˊ ㄊㄡˊ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): bat¹ zong⁶ naam⁴ coeng⁴ bat¹ wui⁴ tau⁴

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: bù zhuàng nánqiáng bù huítóu [Phonetic: bú zhuàng nánqiáng bù huítóu]
    • Zhuyin: ㄅㄨˋ ㄓㄨㄤˋ ㄋㄢˊ ㄑㄧㄤˊ ㄅㄨˋ ㄏㄨㄟˊ ㄊㄡˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: bù jhuàng nánciáng bù huéitóu
    • Wade–Giles: pu⁴ chuang⁴ nan²-chʻiang² pu⁴ hui²-tʻou²
    • Yale: bù jwàng nán-chyáng bù hwéi-tóu
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: bu juanq nanchyang bu hweitour
    • Palladius: бу чжуан наньцян бу хуэйтоу (bu čžuan nanʹcjan bu xuejtou)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /pu⁵¹⁻³⁵ ʈ͡ʂu̯ɑŋ⁵¹ nän³⁵ t͡ɕʰi̯ɑŋ³⁵ pu⁵¹ xu̯eɪ̯³⁵ tʰoʊ̯³⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: bat¹ zong⁶ naam⁴ coeng⁴ bat¹ wui⁴ tau⁴
    • Yale: bāt johng nàahm chèuhng bāt wùih tàuh
    • Cantonese Pinyin: bat⁷ dzong⁶ naam⁴ tsoeng⁴ bat⁷ wui⁴ tau⁴
    • Guangdong Romanization: bed¹ zong⁶ nam⁴ cêng⁴ bed¹ wui⁴ teo⁴
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /pɐt̚⁵ t͡sɔːŋ²² naːm²¹ t͡sʰœːŋ²¹ pɐt̚⁵ wuːi̯²¹ tʰɐu̯²¹/

Idiom

不撞南牆不回頭

1. to be stubborn and refuse to give up or repent until one has experienced failure