凡夫俗子

Chinese

		ordinary person; mortal person; unenlightened person	ordinary person
simp. and trad. (凡夫俗子)		凡夫	俗子

Etymology

First attested in the 16th century. Appeared 3 times in《封神演義》, here take one for example:

名利乃凡夫俗子之所爭，嗔怒乃兒女子之所事，縱是未斬三尸之仙，未赴蟠桃之客，也要脫此苦惱。 [Written Vernacular Chinese, trad.]
名利乃凡夫俗子之所争，嗔怒乃儿女子之所事，纵是未斩三尸之仙，未赴蟠桃之客，也要脱此苦恼。 [Written Vernacular Chinese, simp.]

From: The Investiture of the Gods, circa 16^th century CE

Mínglì nǎi fánfūsúzǐ zhī suǒ zhēng, chēnnù nǎi érnǚzǐ zhī suǒ shì, zòng shì wèi zhǎn sānshī zhī xiān, wèi fù pántáo zhī kè, yě yào tuō cǐ kǔnǎo. [Pinyin]

Fame and fortune are the disputes of ordinary people, while anger and annoyance are the emotions of young men and women. Even a celestial being who has not yet severed all desire nor been invited to attend the longevity-peach feast should do everything to be rid of those temptations.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): fánfūsúzǐ

  (Zhuyin): ㄈㄢˊ ㄈㄨ ㄙㄨˊ ㄗˇ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): faan⁴ fu¹ zuk⁶ zi²
• Southern Min (Teochew, Peng'im): huam⁵ hu¹ sog⁸ ze²

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: fánfūsúzǐ
    • Zhuyin: ㄈㄢˊ ㄈㄨ ㄙㄨˊ ㄗˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: fánfusúzǐh
    • Wade–Giles: fan²-fu¹-su²-tzŭ³
    • Yale: fán-fū-sú-dž
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: farnfuswutzyy
    • Palladius: фаньфусуцзы (fanʹfusuczy)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /fän³⁵ fu⁵⁵ su³⁵ t͡sz̩²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: faan⁴ fu¹ zuk⁶ zi²
    • Yale: fàahn fū juhk jí
    • Cantonese Pinyin: faan⁴ fu¹ dzuk⁹ dzi²
    • Guangdong Romanization: fan⁴ fu¹ zug⁶ ji²
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /faːn²¹ fuː⁵⁵ t͡sʊk̚² t͡siː³⁵/
• Southern Min
  • (Teochew)
    • Peng'im: huam⁵ hu¹ sog⁸ ze²
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: huâm hu so̍k tsṳ́
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /huam⁵⁵⁻¹¹ hu³³⁻²³ sok̚⁴⁻² t͡sɯ⁵²/

Idiom

凡夫俗子

1. ordinary person