洛陽紙貴

Chinese

	Luoyang, an ancient capital	paper	expensive
trad. (洛陽紙貴)	洛陽	紙	貴
simp. (洛阳纸贵)	洛阳	纸	贵
Literally: “to push up the paper price in Luoyang”.

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洛陽紙貴

Etymology

From the incident that the Western Jin poet Zuo Si's work Rhapsodies on the Three Capitals was extremely popular that people were making copies of it, causing a shortage in paper and pushing up its price in Luoyang.

於是豪貴之家競相傳寫，洛陽為之紙貴。 [Literary Chinese, trad.]

于是豪贵之家竞相传写，洛阳为之纸贵。 [Literary Chinese, simp.]

From: 648 CE, Fang Xuanling (lead editor), Book of Jin

Yúshì háoguì zhī jiā jìngxiāng chuánxiě, Luòyáng wèi zhī zhǐ guì. [Pinyin]

After that the noblemen were eagerly making copies of the work, causing paper to become expensive in Luoyang.

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): luòyángzhǐguì

(Zhuyin): ㄌㄨㄛˋ ㄧㄤˊ ㄓˇ ㄍㄨㄟˋ
Cantonese (Jyutping): lok⁶ joeng⁴ zi² gwai³
Southern Min (Teochew, Peng'im): log⁸ iang⁵ zua² gui³

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: luòyángzhǐguì
  - Zhuyin: ㄌㄨㄛˋ ㄧㄤˊ ㄓˇ ㄍㄨㄟˋ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: luòyángjhǐhguèi
  - Wade–Giles: lo⁴-yang²-chih³-kuei⁴
  - Yale: lwò-yáng-jř-gwèi
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: luohyangjyyguey
  - Palladius: лоянчжигуй (lojančžiguj)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /lu̯ɔ⁵¹ jɑŋ³⁵ ʈ͡ʂʐ̩²¹⁴⁻²¹ ku̯eɪ̯⁵¹/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: lok⁶ joeng⁴ zi² gwai³
  - Yale: lohk yèuhng jí gwai
  - Cantonese Pinyin: lok⁹ joeng⁴ dzi² gwai³
  - Guangdong Romanization: log⁶ yêng⁴ ji² guei³
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /lɔːk̚² jœːŋ²¹ t͡siː³⁵ kʷɐi̯³³/
Southern Min
- (Teochew)
  - Peng'im: log⁸ iang⁵ zua² gui³
  - Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: lo̍k iâng tsuá kùi
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /lok̚⁴⁻² iaŋ⁵⁵⁻¹¹ t͡sua⁵²⁻³⁵ kui²¹³/

Idiom

洛陽紙貴

(of a literary work, e.g. a new book) to be all the rage for a time; to be immensely popular