日頭赤焱焱，隨人顧性命

Chinese

		sun; sunlight			to let people	look after; take into consideration; to attend to	life; survival
trad. (日頭赤焱焱，隨人顧性命)		日頭	赤焱焱	，	隨人	顧	性命
simp. (日头赤焱焱，随人顾性命)		日头	赤焱焱	，	随人	顾	性命

Pronunciation

• Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): li̍t-thâu chhiah-iāⁿ-iāⁿ, sûi-lâng kò͘ sìⁿ-miā / ji̍t-thâu chhiah-iāⁿ-iāⁿ, sûi-lâng kò͘ sèⁿ-miā

---

• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen, Quanzhou)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: li̍t-thâu chhiah-iāⁿ-iāⁿ, sûi-lâng kò͘ sìⁿ-miā
    • Tâi-lô: li̍t-thâu tshiah-iānn-iānn, suî-lâng kòo sìnn-miā
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /lit̚²⁴⁻² tʰau²⁴ t͡sʰia(ʔ)⁵ iã⁴¹⁻²² iã⁴¹ sui²⁴⁻²² laŋ²⁴ kɔ⁴¹⁻⁵⁵⁴ sĩ⁴¹⁻⁵⁵⁴ miã⁴¹/
    • IPA (Xiamen): /lit̚⁴⁻³² tʰau²⁴ t͡sʰia(ʔ)³²⁻⁵³ iã²²⁻²¹ iã²² sui²⁴⁻²² laŋ²⁴ kɔ²¹⁻⁵³ sĩ²¹⁻⁵³ miã²²/
  • (Hokkien: Zhangzhou, General Taiwanese)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: ji̍t-thâu chhiah-iāⁿ-iāⁿ, sûi-lâng kò͘ sèⁿ-miā
    • Tâi-lô: ji̍t-thâu tshiah-iānn-iānn, suî-lâng kòo sènn-miā
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /d͡zit̚¹²¹⁻²¹ tʰau¹³ t͡sʰia(ʔ)³²⁻⁵³ iã²²⁻²¹ iã²² sui¹³⁻²² laŋ¹³ kɔ²¹⁻⁵³ sɛ̃²¹⁻⁵³ miã²²/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /zit̚⁴⁻³² tʰau²³ t͡sʰia(ʔ)³²⁻⁴¹ iã³³⁻²¹ iã³³ sui²³⁻³³ laŋ²³ kɔ²¹⁻⁴¹ sẽ²¹⁻⁴¹ miã³³/

Proverb

日頭赤焱焱，隨人顧性命

1. (Hokkien) People tend to protect themselves first in adversity.

References

• “Entry #26953”, 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.