坐山觀虎鬥

Chinese

		to sit; to take a seat; to take (a bus, aeroplane, etc.)	mountain; hill	to look at; to watch; to observe to look at; to watch; to observe; to behold; Taoist monastery	tiger	fight; contend; incite fight; contend; incite; meet; encounter
trad. (坐山觀虎鬥)		坐	山	觀	虎	鬥
simp. (坐山观虎斗)		坐	山	观	虎	斗
Literally: “to sit on top of the mountain to watch the tigers fight”.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): zuòshānguānhǔdòu

  (Zhuyin): ㄗㄨㄛˋ ㄕㄢ ㄍㄨㄢ ㄏㄨˇ ㄉㄡˋ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): zo⁶ saan¹ gun¹ fu² dau³

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: zuòshānguānhǔdòu
    • Zhuyin: ㄗㄨㄛˋ ㄕㄢ ㄍㄨㄢ ㄏㄨˇ ㄉㄡˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: zuòshanguanhǔdòu
    • Wade–Giles: tso⁴-shan¹-kuan¹-hu³-tou⁴
    • Yale: dzwò-shān-gwān-hǔ-dòu
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: tzuohshanguanhuudow
    • Palladius: цзошаньгуаньхудоу (czošanʹguanʹxudou)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡su̯ɔ⁵¹ ʂän⁵⁵ ku̯än⁵⁵ xu²¹⁴⁻²¹ toʊ̯⁵¹/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: zo⁶ saan¹ gun¹ fu² dau³
    • Yale: joh sāan gūn fú dau
    • Cantonese Pinyin: dzo⁶ saan¹ gun¹ fu² dau³
    • Guangdong Romanization: zo⁶ san¹ gun¹ fu² deo³
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sɔː²² saːn⁵⁵ kuːn⁵⁵ fuː³⁵ tɐu̯³³/

Idiom

坐山觀虎鬥

1. (figuratively) to watch in safety while others fight, then reaping the spoils when both sides suffer.

Synonyms

• (Hokkien) 徛懸山看馬相踢 / 徛悬山看马相踢

References

• Chinese Idiom: Sitting on a Hill Watching Tigers Fight