尸位

Chinese

		corpse	position; location; (measure word for persons) position; location; (measure word for persons); place; seat
simp. and trad. (尸位)		尸	位
Literally: “to hold one's position like a corpse”.

Etymology

From 《五子之歌》 (Song of Five People) in the Book of Documents:

太康尸位，以逸豫滅厥德，黎民咸貳。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]

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太康尸位，以逸豫灭厥德，黎民咸贰。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: The Book of Documents, circa 4^th – 3^rd century BCE

Tàikāng shīwèi, yǐ yìyù miè juédé, límín xián èr. [Pinyin]

Tai Kang who held his position without doing anything lived happily and comfortably instead of being moral. All commoners were disloyal.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): shīwèi

  (Zhuyin): ㄕ ㄨㄟˋ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): si¹ wai⁶

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: shīwèi
    • Zhuyin: ㄕ ㄨㄟˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: shihwèi
    • Wade–Giles: shih¹-wei⁴
    • Yale: shr̄-wèi
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: shywey
    • Palladius: шивэй (šivɛj)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ʂʐ̩⁵⁵ weɪ̯⁵¹/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: si¹ wai⁶
    • Yale: sī waih
    • Cantonese Pinyin: si¹ wai⁶
    • Guangdong Romanization: xi¹ wei⁶
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /siː⁵⁵ wɐi̯²²/

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• Middle Chinese: syij hwijH

Rime
Character	尸	位
Reading #	1/1	1/1
Initial (聲)	書 (26)	云 (35)
Final (韻)	脂 (15)	脂 (18)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)	Departing (H)
Openness (開合)	Open	Closed
Division (等)	III	III
Fanqie	式之切	于愧切
Baxter	syij	hwijH
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/ɕiɪ/	/ɦˠiuɪH/
Pan Wuyun	/ɕi/	/ɦʷᵚiH/
Shao Rongfen	/ɕjɪ/	/ɣiuɪH/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/ɕi/	/ɦjwiH/
Li Rong	/ɕi/	/ɣjuiH/
Wang Li	/ɕi/	/ɣwiH/
Bernhard Karlgren	/ɕi/	/wiH/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	shī	wèi
Expected Cantonese Reflex	si1	wai6

• Old Chinese

  (Baxter–Sagart): /*l̥̥[ə]j  [ɢ]ʷrəp-s/

  (Zhengzhang): /*hli  ɢʷrɯbs/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	尸	位
Reading #	1/1	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	shī	wèi
Middle Chinese	‹ syij ›	‹ hwijH ›
Old Chinese	/*l̥̥[ə]j/	/*[ɢ]ʷrəp-s/ (< *ɢʷəʔ-rəp-s ?)
English	corpse	standing, position
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	尸	位
Reading #	1/1	1/1
No.	11396	7865
Phonetic component	尸	立
Rime group	脂	內
Rime subdivision	2	1
Corresponding MC rime		位
Old Chinese	/*hli/	/*ɢʷrɯbs/

Verb

尸位

1. (derogatory, literary) to hold one's position without doing anything

Derived terms

• 尸位病民
• 尸位素餐 (shīwèisùcān)
• 尸位誤國 / 尸位误国
• 素餐尸位

See also

• 尸素 (shīsù)