民不聊生

Chinese

		the people; nationality; citizen	not; no	to rely on	to live; to make a living
trad. (民不聊生)		民	不	聊	生
simp. #(民不聊生)		民	不	聊	生
Literally: “the people lost their livelihoods and have no way to make a living”.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): mínbùliáoshēng

  (Zhuyin): ㄇㄧㄣˊ ㄅㄨˋ ㄌㄧㄠˊ ㄕㄥ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): man⁴ bat¹ liu⁴ sang¹

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: mínbùliáoshēng
    • Zhuyin: ㄇㄧㄣˊ ㄅㄨˋ ㄌㄧㄠˊ ㄕㄥ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: mínbùliáosheng
    • Wade–Giles: min²-pu⁴-liao²-shêng¹
    • Yale: mín-bù-lyáu-shēng
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: minbuliausheng
    • Palladius: миньбуляошэн (minʹbuljaošɛn)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /min³⁵ pu⁵¹ li̯ɑʊ̯³⁵ ʂɤŋ⁵⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: man⁴ bat¹ liu⁴ sang¹
    • Yale: màhn bāt lìuh sāng
    • Cantonese Pinyin: man⁴ bat⁷ liu⁴ sang¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: men⁴ bed¹ liu⁴ seng¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /mɐn²¹ pɐt̚⁵ liːu̯²¹ sɐŋ⁵⁵/

Idiom

民不聊生

1. the people are living difficult and harrowing lives; the masses live in dire destitution