大義滅親

Chinese

		principles of justice; Dayi	extinguish	dear; intimate; parent dear; intimate; parent; relation; closely related; parents-in-law of one's offspring
trad. (大義滅親)		大義	滅	親
simp. (大义灭亲)		大义	灭	亲

Etymology

From Zuo Zhuan. Zhou Yu (州吁) had murdered his brother, Duke Huan of Wey (衛桓公), and taken his place. But he could not gain the favor of the people of Wey. Shi Que (石碏), an officer loyal to the state, devised a scheme and had the usurper killed. Shi Que's son Shi Hou was a close associate of Zhou Yu, so Shi Que had his son killed as well. The people praised his act (《左傳·隱公四年》):

君子曰：「石碏，純臣也，惡州籲而厚與焉。『大義滅親』，其是之謂乎！」 [Classical Chinese, trad.]

君子曰：「石碏，纯臣也，恶州吁而厚与焉。『大义灭亲』，其是之谓乎！」 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: Commentary of Zuo, c. 4^th century BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

Jūnzǐ yuē: “Shí Què, chún chén yě, wù Zhōu Yù ér Hòu yǔ yān. ‘dàyì miè qīn’, qí shì zhī wèi hū!” [Pinyin]

A superior man may say, "Shi Que was a minister without blemish. He hated Zhou Yu, with whom his own son Hou was art and part; — and did he not so afford an illustration of the saying that great righteousness is supreme over the affections?"

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): dàyìmièqīn

(Zhuyin): ㄉㄚˋ ㄧˋ ㄇㄧㄝˋ ㄑㄧㄣ
Cantonese (Jyutping): daai⁶ ji⁶ mit⁶ can¹

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: dàyìmièqīn
  - Zhuyin: ㄉㄚˋ ㄧˋ ㄇㄧㄝˋ ㄑㄧㄣ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: dàyìmiècin
  - Wade–Giles: ta⁴-i⁴-mieh⁴-chʻin¹
  - Yale: dà-yì-myè-chīn
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: dahyihmiehchin
  - Palladius: даимецинь (daimecinʹ)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /tä⁵¹⁻⁵³ i⁵¹⁻⁵³ mi̯ɛ⁵¹ t͡ɕʰin⁵⁵/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: daai⁶ ji⁶ mit⁶ can¹
  - Yale: daaih yih miht chān
  - Cantonese Pinyin: daai⁶ ji⁶ mit⁹ tsan¹
  - Guangdong Romanization: dai⁶ yi⁶ mid⁶ cen¹
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /taːi̯²² jiː²² miːt̚² t͡sʰɐn⁵⁵/

Middle Chinese: dajH|daH ngjeH mjiet tshin

Rime
Character	大	大	義	滅	親
Reading #	1/2	2/2	1/1	1/1	1/2
Initial (聲)	定 (7)	定 (7)	疑 (31)	明 (4)	清 (14)
Final (韻)	泰 (25)	歌 (94)	支 (13)	薛 (81)	眞 (43)
Tone (調)	Departing (H)	Departing (H)	Departing (H)	Checked (Ø)	Level (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Open	Open	Open	Open	Open
Division (等)	I	I	III	III	III
Fanqie	徒蓋切	唐佐切	宜寄切	亡列切	七人切
Baxter	dajH	daH	ngjeH	mjiet	tshin
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/dɑi^H/	/dɑ^H/	/ŋˠiᴇ^H/	/miᴇt̚/	/t͡sʰiɪn/
Pan Wuyun	/dɑi^H/	/dɑ^H/	/ŋᵚiɛ^H/	/miɛt̚/	/t͡sʰin/
Shao Rongfen	/dɑi^H/	/dɑ^H/	/ŋiɛ^H/	/mjæt̚/	/t͡sʰjen/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/daj^H/	/da^H/	/ŋjiə̆^H/	/miat̚/	/t͡sʰin/
Li Rong	/dɑi^H/	/dɑ^H/	/ŋje^H/	/miɛt̚/	/t͡sʰiĕn/
Wang Li	/dɑi^H/	/dɑ^H/	/ŋǐe^H/	/mĭɛt̚/	/t͡sʰĭĕn/
Bernhard Karlgren	/dʱɑi^H/	/dʱɑ^H/	/ŋie̯^H/	/mi̯ɛt̚/	/t͡sʰi̯ĕn/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	dài	duò	yì	miè	qīn
Expected Cantonese Reflex	daai⁶	do⁶	ji⁶	mit⁶	can¹

Old Chinese
(Baxter–Sagart): /*lˤat-s|lˤa[t]-s ŋ(r)aj-s [m]et [tsʰ]i[n]/

(Zhengzhang): /*daːds ŋrals med sʰin/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	大	大	義	滅	親
Reading #	1/2	2/2	1/1	1/1	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	dà	dà	yì	miè	qīn
Middle Chinese	‹ da^H ›	‹ daj^H ›	‹ ngje^H ›	‹ mjiet ›	‹ tshin ›
Old Chinese	/*lˁat-s/ (MC F!)	/*lˁa[t]-s/	/*ŋ(r)aj-s/	/*[m]et/	/*[tsʰ]i[n]/
English	big	big	duty; justice	destroy	close; parents
Notes for Old Chinese notations in the Baxter–Sagart system: * Parentheses "()" indicate uncertain presence; * Square brackets "[]" indicate uncertain identity, e.g. [t] as coda may in fact be -t or -p; Angle brackets "<>" indicate infix; * Hyphen "-" indicates morpheme boundary; * Period "." indicates syllable boundary.

Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character	大	大	義	滅	親
Reading #	1/2	2/2	1/1	1/1	1/2
No.	1934	1939	13045	13942	13804
Phonetic component	大	大	我	戌	辛
Rime group	祭	祭	歌	月	眞
Rime subdivision	1	1	1	2	2
Corresponding MC rime	䭾	大	議	滅	親
Old Chinese	/*daːds/	/*daːds/	/*ŋrals/	/*med/	/*sʰin/
Notes				烕轉註	說文親（同榛）聲

Idiom

大義滅親

to place righteousness before family; to be ready to punish one's own family if justice demands it