拆東牆，補西牆

Chinese

		to tear open; to tear down; to tear apart to tear open; to tear down; to tear apart; to open	east	wall		to repair; to patch; to mend to repair; to patch; to mend; to make up for; to fill (a vacancy); to supplement	west	wall
trad. (拆東牆，補西牆)		拆	東	牆	，	補	西	牆
simp. (拆东墙，补西墙)		拆	东	墙	，	补	西	墙
Literally: “to tear down the east wall to repair the west wall”.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): chāi dōngqiáng, bǔ xīqiáng

  (Zhuyin): ㄔㄞ ㄉㄨㄥ ㄑㄧㄤˊ , ㄅㄨˇ ㄒㄧ ㄑㄧㄤˊ

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: chāi dōngqiáng, bǔ xīqiáng
    • Zhuyin: ㄔㄞ ㄉㄨㄥ ㄑㄧㄤˊ , ㄅㄨˇ ㄒㄧ ㄑㄧㄤˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: chai dongciáng, bǔ siciáng
    • Wade–Giles: chʻai¹ tung¹-chʻiang², pu³ hsi¹-chʻiang²
    • Yale: chāi dūng-chyáng-, bǔ syī-chyáng
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: chai dongchyang, buu shichyang
    • Palladius: чай дунцян, бу сицян (čaj duncjan, bu sicjan)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ʈ͡ʂʰaɪ̯⁵⁵ tʊŋ⁵⁵ t͡ɕʰi̯ɑŋ³⁵ pu²¹⁴⁻²¹ ɕi⁵⁵ t͡ɕʰi̯ɑŋ³⁵/

Idiom

拆東牆，補西牆

1. to rob Peter to pay Paul

Synonyms

• 拆東牆，補西壁／拆东墙，补西壁