借花獻佛

Chinese

		to lend; to borrow; excuse to lend; to borrow; excuse; pretext; by means of	flower; blossom; to spend flower; blossom; to spend; fancy pattern	to offer	Buddha; Buddhism
trad. (借花獻佛)		借	花	獻	佛
simp. (借花献佛)		借	花	献	佛
Literally: “to borrow flowers to offer to Buddha”.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): jièhuāxiànfó

  (Zhuyin): ㄐㄧㄝˋ ㄏㄨㄚ ㄒㄧㄢˋ ㄈㄛˊ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): ze³ faa¹ hin³ fat⁶
• Southern Min

  (Hokkien, POJ): chioh-hoe-hiàn-pu̍t

  (Teochew, Peng'im): zioh⁴ huê¹ hiang³ hug⁸

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: jièhuāxiànfó
    • Zhuyin: ㄐㄧㄝˋ ㄏㄨㄚ ㄒㄧㄢˋ ㄈㄛˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: jièhuasiànfó
    • Wade–Giles: chieh⁴-hua¹-hsien⁴-fo²
    • Yale: jyè-hwā-syàn-fwó
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: jiehhuashiannfor
    • Palladius: цзехуасяньфо (czexuasjanʹfo)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡ɕi̯ɛ⁵¹ xu̯ä⁵⁵ ɕi̯ɛn⁵¹ fu̯ɔ³⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: ze³ faa¹ hin³ fat⁶
    • Yale: je fā hin faht
    • Cantonese Pinyin: dze³ faa¹ hin³ fat⁹
    • Guangdong Romanization: zé³ fa¹ hin³ fed⁶
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sɛː³³ faː⁵⁵ hiːn³³ fɐt̚²/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen, General Taiwanese)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: chioh-hoe-hiàn-pu̍t
    • Tâi-lô: tsioh-hue-hiàn-pu̍t
    • Phofsit Daibuun: cioihhoe'hiernput
    • IPA (Xiamen): /t͡sio(ʔ)³²⁻⁵³ hue⁴⁴ hiɛn²¹⁻⁵³ put̚⁴/
    • IPA (Taipei): /t͡sio(ʔ)³²⁻⁵³ hue⁴⁴ hiɛn¹¹⁻⁵³ put̚⁴/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /t͡siɤ(ʔ)³²⁻⁴¹ hue⁴⁴ hiɛn²¹⁻⁴¹ put̚⁴/
  • (Teochew)
    • Peng'im: zioh⁴ huê¹ hiang³ hug⁸
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: tsioh hue hiàng hu̍k
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sioʔ²⁻⁴ hue³³ hiaŋ²¹³⁻⁵⁵ huk̚⁴/

Idiom

借花獻佛

1. to offer something that one has received (as a gift, favour, etc.) to someone else

Synonyms

Dialectal synonyms of 借花獻佛 (“to offer something that one has received to someone else”) [map]

Variety	Location	Words edit
Formal (Written Standard Chinese)		借花獻佛
Northeastern Mandarin	Taiwan	借花獻佛
Cantonese	Hong Kong	借花敬佛
Southern Min	Xiamen	借花獻佛
	Tainan	別儂個桌頂夾肉飼大家
	Longyan	借花獻佛
	Jieyang	借花獻佛