司馬昭之心——路人皆知

Chinese

		Sima Zhao	's; him/her/it; this	heart; mind		passer-by	everyone knows; as known by all
trad. (司馬昭之心——路人皆知)		司馬昭	之	心	——	路人	皆知
simp. (司马昭之心——路人皆知)		司马昭	之	心	——	路人	皆知
alternative forms		司馬昭之心，路人皆知／司马昭之心，路人皆知
Literally: “Sima Zhao's heart ― every passer-by knows”.

Etymology

From Cao Mao (Emperor of Cao Wei)'s statement of ousting Sima Zhao, before Cao was assassinated by Sima. This quote was later quoted by the historian Pei Songzhi in his annotated version of the Records of the Three Kingdoms:

景耀三年（魏景元元年），昭殺其主髦及王經。自曹芳事後，魏人省徹宿衛，無復鎧甲，諸門戎兵老弱而已。曹髦見威權日去，不勝其忿。乃召侍中王沈、尚書王經、常侍王業，謂曰：「司馬昭之心，路人所知也。吾不能坐受廢辱，今日當與卿自出討之。」 [MSC, trad.]

---

景耀三年（魏景元元年），昭杀其主髦及王经。自曹芳事后，魏人省彻宿卫，无复铠甲，诸门戎兵老弱而已。曹髦见威权日去，不胜其忿。乃召侍中王沈、尚书王经、常侍王业，谓曰：「司马昭之心，路人所知也。吾不能坐受废辱，今日当与卿自出讨之。」 [MSC, simp.]

From: c. 3^rd Century, Xi Zuochi, The Annals of Han and Jin

Jǐngyào sān nián (wèi jǐngyuán yuánnián), zhāo shā qí zhǔ Máo jí Wáng Jīng. Zì cáofāng shìhòu, wèi rén xǐngchè sùwèi, wú fù kǎijiǎ, zhū mén róngbīng lǎoruò éryǐ. Cáo Máo jiàn wēiquán rì qù, bùshèng qí fèn. Nǎi zhào shìzhōng Wáng Chén, shàngshū Wáng Jīng, chángshì Wáng Yè, wèi yuē: “Sīmǎ Zhāo zhī xīn, lùrén suǒ zhī yě. wú bùnéng zuò shòu fèi rǔ, jīnrì dāng yǔ qīng zì chū tǎo zhī.” [Pinyin]

In Year 3 of Jingyao (Year 1 of Jingyuan of Wei, 260 AD), Sima Zhao assassinated the emperor Cao Mao and Wang Jing. (Before this,) Since the death of Cao Fang, the State of Wei has abolished the royal guards. There was no longer strong defense and only old and weak soldiers were left. Cao Mao felt that his authority was fading away and felt angry. Then he called Wang Chen, Wang Jing and Wang Ye, and told them, “Even people passing by know the ambition of Sima Zhao. I can't bear the humiliation of being dethroned. I think it's time to fight against him now.”

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): Sīmǎ Zhāo zhī xīn, lùrén jiē zhī

  (Zhuyin): ㄙ ㄇㄚˇ ㄓㄠ ㄓ ㄒㄧㄣ , ㄌㄨˋ ㄖㄣˊ ㄐㄧㄝ ㄓ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): si¹ maa⁵ ciu¹ zi¹ sam¹, lou⁶ jan⁴ gaai¹ zi¹

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: Sīmǎ Zhāo zhī xīn, lùrén jiē zhī
    • Zhuyin: ㄙ ㄇㄚˇ ㄓㄠ ㄓ ㄒㄧㄣ , ㄌㄨˋ ㄖㄣˊ ㄐㄧㄝ ㄓ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: Sihmǎ Jhao jhih sin, lùrén jie jhih
    • Wade–Giles: Ssŭ¹-ma³ Chao¹ chih¹ hsin¹, lu⁴-jên² chieh¹ chih¹
    • Yale: Sz̄-mǎ Jāu jr̄ syīn-, lù-rén jyē jr̄
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: Symaa Jau jy shin, luhren jie jy
    • Palladius: Сыма Чжао чжи синь, лужэнь цзе чжи (Syma Čžao čži sinʹ, lužɛnʹ cze čži)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /sz̩⁵⁵ mä²¹⁴⁻²¹ ʈ͡ʂɑʊ̯⁵⁵ ʈ͡ʂʐ̩⁵⁵ ɕin⁵⁵ lu⁵¹ ʐən³⁵ t͡ɕi̯ɛ⁵⁵ ʈ͡ʂʐ̩⁵⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: si¹ maa⁵ ciu¹ zi¹ sam¹, lou⁶ jan⁴ gaai¹ zi¹
    • Yale: sī máh chīu jī sām, louh yàhn gāai jī
    • Cantonese Pinyin: si¹ maa⁵ tsiu¹ dzi¹ sam¹, lou⁶ jan⁴ gaai¹ dzi¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: xi¹ ma⁵ qiu¹ ji¹ sem¹, lou⁶ yen⁴ gai¹ ji¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /siː⁵⁵ maː¹³ t͡sʰiːu̯⁵⁵ t͡siː⁵⁵ sɐm⁵⁵ lou̯²² jɐn²¹ kaːi̯⁵⁵ t͡siː⁵⁵/

Idiom

司馬昭之心——路人皆知

1. one's evil ambitions are apparent to everyone