人為刀俎，我為魚肉

Chinese

		man; person; people	because of; for; to because of; for; to; act as; take...to be; to be; to do; to serve as; to become	butcher's knife and chopping block; oppressor; persecutor		I; me	because of; for; to because of; for; to; act as; take...to be; to be; to do; to serve as; to become	fish; flesh of fish; fish and meat
trad. (人為刀俎，我為魚肉)		人	為	刀俎	，	我	為	魚肉
simp. (人为刀俎，我为鱼肉)		人	为	刀俎	，	我	为	鱼肉
Literally: “to be the meat on somebody's chopping block”.

Etymology

From 《史記·項羽本紀》 (Records of the Grand Historian: Annals of Xiang Yu).

如今人方為刀俎，我為魚肉，何辭為？ [Classical Chinese, trad.]

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如今人方为刀俎，我为鱼肉，何辞为？ [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: The Records of the Grand Historian, by Sima Qian, c. 91 BCE

Rújīn rén fāng wéi dāozǔ, wǒ wéi yúròu, hé cí wéi? [Pinyin]

Now they are like the butcher's knife and chopping block, and we are like the fish and meat, what's the use of saying goodbye?

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): rén wéi dāozǔ, wǒ wéi yúròu

  (Zhuyin): ㄖㄣˊ ㄨㄟˊ ㄉㄠ ㄗㄨˇ , ㄨㄛˇ ㄨㄟˊ ㄩˊ ㄖㄡˋ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): jan⁴ wai⁴ dou¹ zo², ngo⁵ wai⁴ jyu⁴ juk⁶

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: rén wéi dāozǔ, wǒ wéi yúròu
    • Zhuyin: ㄖㄣˊ ㄨㄟˊ ㄉㄠ ㄗㄨˇ , ㄨㄛˇ ㄨㄟˊ ㄩˊ ㄖㄡˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: rén wéi daozǔ, wǒ wéi yúròu
    • Wade–Giles: jên² wei² tao¹-tsu³, wo³ wei² yü²-jou⁴
    • Yale: rén wéi dāu-dzǔ-, wǒ wéi yú-ròu
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: ren wei dautzuu, woo wei yurow
    • Palladius: жэнь вэй даоцзу, во вэй юйжоу (žɛnʹ vɛj daoczu, vo vɛj jujžou)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ʐən³⁵ weɪ̯³⁵ tɑʊ̯⁵⁵ t͡su²¹⁴⁻³⁵ wɔ²¹⁴⁻²¹ weɪ̯³⁵ y³⁵ ʐoʊ̯⁵¹/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: jan⁴ wai⁴ dou¹ zo², ngo⁵ wai⁴ jyu⁴ juk⁶
    • Yale: yàhn wàih dōu jó, ngóh wàih yùh yuhk
    • Cantonese Pinyin: jan⁴ wai⁴ dou¹ dzo², ngo⁵ wai⁴ jy⁴ juk⁹
    • Guangdong Romanization: yen⁴ wei⁴ dou¹ zo², ngo⁵ wei⁴ yu⁴ yug⁶
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /jɐn²¹ wɐi̯²¹ tou̯⁵⁵ t͡sɔː³⁵ ŋɔː¹³ wɐi̯²¹ jyː²¹ jʊk̚²/

Idiom

人為刀俎，我為魚肉

1. (figuratively) to be at somebody's mercy