攑頭三尺有神明

Chinese

		to look up; to raise one's head; wing to look up; to raise one's head; wing; wing-room	three	a Chinese foot (M); one-third of a metre; a ruler a Chinese foot (M); one-third of a metre; a ruler; a note musical note on traditional Chinese scale	to have; there is; there are to have; there is; there are; to exist; to be	deity; god
trad. (攑頭三尺有神明)		攑頭	三	尺	有	神明
simp. (𫽥头三尺有神明)		𫽥头	三	尺	有	神明
alternative forms		揭頭三尺有神明／揭头三尺有神明
Literally: “There are gods three feet above your head”.

Pronunciation

• Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): kia̍h thâu saⁿ chhioh ū sîn-bêng / ka̍h thâu saⁿ chhioh ǔ sîn-bêng / gia̍h thâu saⁿ chhioh ū sîn-bêng

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• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen, Zhangzhou)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: kia̍h thâu saⁿ chhioh ū sîn-bêng
    • Tâi-lô: kia̍h thâu sann tshioh ū sîn-bîng
    • Phofsit Daibuun: kiah taau svaf chioiq u sinbeeng
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /kia(ʔ)¹²¹⁻²¹ tʰau¹³ sã⁴⁴⁻²² t͡sʰioʔ³² u²²⁻²¹ sin¹³⁻²² biɪŋ¹³/
    • IPA (Xiamen): /kia(ʔ)⁴⁻²¹ tʰau²⁴ sã⁴⁴⁻²² t͡sʰioʔ³² u²²⁻²¹ sin²⁴⁻²² biɪŋ²⁴/
  • (Hokkien: Quanzhou)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: ka̍h thâu saⁿ chhioh ǔ sîn-bêng
    • Tâi-lô: ka̍h thâu sann tshioh ǔ sîn-bîng
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /ka(ʔ)²⁴⁻² tʰau²⁴ sã³³ t͡sʰioʔ⁵ u²² sin²⁴⁻²² biɪŋ²⁴/
  • (Hokkien: General Taiwanese)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: gia̍h thâu saⁿ chhioh ū sîn-bêng
    • Tâi-lô: gia̍h thâu sann tshioh ū sîn-bîng
    • Phofsit Daibuun: giah taau svaf chioiq u sinbeeng
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /ɡia(ʔ)⁴⁻²¹ tʰau²³ sã⁴⁴⁻³³ t͡sʰiɤʔ³² u³³⁻²¹ sin²³⁻³³ biɪŋ²³/
    • IPA (Taipei): /ɡia(ʔ)⁴⁻¹¹ tʰau²⁴ sã⁴⁴⁻³³ t͡sʰioʔ³² u³³⁻¹¹ sin²⁴⁻¹¹ biɪŋ²⁴/

Idiom

攑頭三尺有神明

1. (Hokkien) The gods are watching, so don't think you can get away with anything.

Synonyms

Dialectal synonyms of 舉頭三尺有神明 (“The gods are watching from above.”) [map]

Variety	Location	Words edit
Formal (Written Standard Chinese)		舉頭三尺有神明
Northeastern Mandarin	Taiwan	舉頭三尺有神明
Cantonese	Hong Kong	舉頭三尺有神明
Southern Min	Xiamen	攑頭三尺有神明
	Quanzhou	攑頭三尺有神明
	Zhangzhou	攑頭三尺有神明
	Tainan	攑頭三尺有神明

References

• “攑頭三尺有神明”, in 教育部臺灣台語常用詞辭典 [Dictionary of Frequently-Used Taiwanese Taigi] (overall work in Mandarin and Hokkien), Ministry of Education, R.O.C., 2025.