毀家紓難

Chinese

		to destroy; to damage; to ruin	home; family; ‑ist home; family; ‑ist; ‑er; ‑ian; measure word for stores and schools	slow; to free from	disaster; distress; to scold disaster; distress; to scold; difficult (to...); problem; difficulty; difficult; not good
trad. (毀家紓難)		毀	家	紓	難
simp. (毁家纾难)		毁	家	纾	难

Etymology

From Zuo Zhuan (《左傳·莊公三十年》):

秋，申公鬭班殺子元，鬭谷於菟爲令尹，自毀其家以紓楚國之難。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]

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秋，申公鬭班杀子元，鬭谷於菟为令尹，自毁其家以纾楚国之难。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

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

Qiū, Shēn Gōng Dǒu Bān shā Zǐyuán, Dǒu Gǔwūtú wéi lìngyǐn, zì huǐ qí jiā yǐ shū Chǔ guó zhī nàn. [Pinyin]

In autumn, Dou Ban（鬬班）, duke of Shen, put Ziyuan（子元）to death. Dou Guwutu（鬬㝅於菟）became chief minister, and emptied his house of everything to alleviate the difficulties of the Chu State.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): huǐjiāshūnàn

  (Zhuyin): ㄏㄨㄟˇ ㄐㄧㄚ ㄕㄨ ㄋㄢˋ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): wai² gaa¹ syu¹ naan⁴

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: huǐjiāshūnàn
    • Zhuyin: ㄏㄨㄟˇ ㄐㄧㄚ ㄕㄨ ㄋㄢˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: huěijiashunàn
    • Wade–Giles: hui³-chia¹-shu¹-nan⁴
    • Yale: hwěi-jyā-shū-nàn
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: hoeijiashunann
    • Palladius: хуэйцзяшунань (xuejczjašunanʹ)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /xu̯eɪ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹ t͡ɕi̯ä⁵⁵ ʂu⁵⁵ nän⁵¹/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: wai² gaa¹ syu¹ naan⁴
    • Yale: wái gā syū nàahn
    • Cantonese Pinyin: wai² gaa¹ sy¹ naan⁴
    • Guangdong Romanization: wei² ga¹ xu¹ nan⁴
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /wɐi̯³⁵ kaː⁵⁵ syː⁵⁵ naːn²¹/

Idiom

毀家紓難

1. to sacrifice one's family fortune to save the state; to offer all that a family owns to help the country get through a crisis