專心致志

Chinese

		to concentrate; to be attentive; to be absorbed to concentrate; to be attentive; to be absorbed; to be dedicated	to concentrate the mind; to boost morale
trad. (專心致志)		專心	致志
simp. (专心致志)		专心	致志

Etymology

From Mencius (《孟子·告子上》):

今夫弈之為數，小數也；不專心致志，則不得也。弈秋，通國之善弈者也。使弈秋誨二人弈，其一人專心致志，惟弈秋之為聽。一人雖聽之，一心以為有鴻鵠將至，思援弓繳而射之，雖與之俱學，弗若之矣。為是其智弗若與？曰：「非然也。」 [Classical Chinese, trad.]

今夫弈之为数，小数也；不专心致志，则不得也。弈秋，通国之善弈者也。使弈秋诲二人弈，其一人专心致志，惟弈秋之为听。一人虽听之，一心以为有鸿鹄将至，思援弓缴而射之，虽与之俱学，弗若之矣。为是其智弗若与？曰：「非然也。」 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

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

Jīnfú yì zhī wéi shù, xiǎo shù yě; bù zhuānxīn zhìzhì, zé bùdé yě. Yìqiū, tōngguó zhī shàn yì zhě yě. Shǐ Yìqiū huì èrrén yì, qí yīrén zhuānxīn zhìzhì, wéi Yìqiū zhī wéi tīng. Yīrén suī tīng zhī, yīxīn yǐwèi yǒu hónghú jiāng zhì, sī yuán gōngzhuó ér shè zhī, suī yǔ zhī jù xué, fú ruò zhī yǐ. Wéishì qí zhì fú ruò yú? Yuē: “Fēi rán yě.” [Pinyin]

Now chess-playing is but a small art, but without his whole mind being given, and his will bent to it, a man cannot succeed at it. Yi Qiu is the best chess-player in all the kingdom. Suppose he is teaching two men to play. The one gives to the subject his whole mind and bends to it all his will, doing nothing but listening to Yi Qiu. Another one, although he seems to be listening to him, has his whole mind running on a swan which he thinks is approaching, and wishes to bend his bow, adjust the string to the arrow, and shoot it. Although he is learning along with another one, he does not come up to him. Why? Because he isn't as intelligent as another one? Not so.

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): zhuānxīnzhìzhì

(Zhuyin): ㄓㄨㄢㄒㄧㄣㄓˋ ㄓˋ
Cantonese (Jyutping): zyun¹ sam¹ zi³ zi³

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: zhuānxīnzhìzhì
  - Zhuyin: ㄓㄨㄢㄒㄧㄣㄓˋ ㄓˋ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: jhuansinjhìhjhìh
  - Wade–Giles: chuan¹-hsin¹-chih⁴-chih⁴
  - Yale: jwān-syīn-jr̀-jr̀
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: juanshinjyhjyh
  - Palladius: чжуаньсиньчжичжи (čžuanʹsinʹčžičži)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ʈ͡ʂu̯än⁵⁵ ɕin⁵⁵ ʈ͡ʂʐ̩⁵¹⁻⁵³ ʈ͡ʂʐ̩⁵¹/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: zyun¹ sam¹ zi³ zi³
  - Yale: jyūn sām ji ji
  - Cantonese Pinyin: dzyn¹ sam¹ dzi³ dzi³
  - Guangdong Romanization: jun¹ sem¹ ji³ ji³
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡syːn⁵⁵ sɐm⁵⁵ t͡siː³³ t͡siː³³/

Middle Chinese: tsywen sim trijH tsyiH

Rime
Character	專	心	致	志
Reading #	1/1	1/1	1/1	1/1
Initial (聲)	章 (23)	心 (16)	知 (9)	章 (23)
Final (韻)	仙 (78)	侵 (139)	脂 (17)	之 (19)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)	Level (Ø)	Departing (H)	Departing (H)
Openness (開合)	Closed	Open	Open	Open
Division (等)	III	III	III	III
Fanqie	職緣切	息林切	陟利切	職吏切
Baxter	tsywen	sim	trijH	tsyiH
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/t͡ɕiuᴇn/	/siɪm/	/ʈˠiɪ^H/	/t͡ɕɨ^H/
Pan Wuyun	/t͡ɕʷiɛn/	/sim/	/ʈᵚi^H/	/t͡ɕɨ^H/
Shao Rongfen	/t͡ɕjuæn/	/sjem/	/ȶiɪ^H/	/t͡ɕie^H/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/cwian/	/sim/	/ʈji^H/	/cɨ^H/
Li Rong	/t͡ɕiuɛn/	/siəm/	/ȶji^H/	/t͡ɕiə^H/
Wang Li	/t͡ɕĭwɛn/	/sĭĕm/	/ȶi^H/	/t͡ɕĭə^H/
Bernhard Karlgren	/t͡ɕi̯wɛn/	/si̯əm/	/ȶi^H/	/t͡ɕi^H/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	zhuān	xīn	zhì	zhì
Expected Cantonese Reflex	zyun¹	sam¹	zi³	zi³

Old Chinese
(Baxter–Sagart): /*ton səm t<r>i[t]-s tə-s/

(Zhengzhang): /*tjon slɯm tiɡs tjɯs/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	專	心	致	志
Reading #	1/1	1/1	1/1	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	zhuān	xīn	zhì	zhì
Middle Chinese	‹ tsywen ›	‹ sim ›	‹ trij^H ›	‹ tsyi^H ›
Old Chinese	/*ton/	/*səm/	/*t<r>i[t]-s/	/*tə-s/
English	exclusively	heart	(cause to arrive): transmit	goal, intention, aspiration
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	專	心	致	志
Reading #	1/1	1/1	1/1	1/1
No.	17683	13801	17336	17190
Phonetic component	專	心	至	之
Rime group	元	侵	至	之
Rime subdivision	3	1	2	0
Corresponding MC rime	專	心	致	志
Old Chinese	/*tjon/	/*slɯm/	/*tiɡs/	/*tjɯs/
Notes				說文之聲

Idiom

專心致志

to be wholly focused; with single-hearted devotion