皇天后土

Chinese

		the great and almighty heavens above; oh my God	earth god; Houtu; the vast earth
simp. and trad. (皇天后土)		皇天	后土

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): huángtiānhòutǔ

  (Zhuyin): ㄏㄨㄤˊ ㄊㄧㄢ ㄏㄡˋ ㄊㄨˇ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): wong⁴ tin¹ hau⁶ tou²

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: huángtiānhòutǔ
    • Zhuyin: ㄏㄨㄤˊ ㄊㄧㄢ ㄏㄡˋ ㄊㄨˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: huángtianhòutǔ
    • Wade–Giles: huang²-tʻien¹-hou⁴-tʻu³
    • Yale: hwáng-tyān-hòu-tǔ
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: hwangtianhowtuu
    • Palladius: хуантяньхоуту (xuantjanʹxoutu)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /xu̯ɑŋ³⁵ tʰi̯ɛn⁵⁵ xoʊ̯⁵¹ tʰu²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: wong⁴ tin¹ hau⁶ tou²
    • Yale: wòhng tīn hauh tóu
    • Cantonese Pinyin: wong⁴ tin¹ hau⁶ tou²
    • Guangdong Romanization: wong⁴ tin¹ heo⁶ tou²
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /wɔːŋ²¹ tʰiːn⁵⁵ hɐu̯²² tʰou̯³⁵/

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• Middle Chinese: hwang then huwX|huwH thuX

Rime
Character	皇	天	后	后	土
Reading #	1/1	1/1	1/2	2/2	1/2
Initial (聲)	匣 (33)	透 (6)	匣 (33)	匣 (33)	透 (6)
Final (韻)	唐 (102)	先 (85)	侯 (137)	侯 (137)	模 (23)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)	Level (Ø)	Rising (X)	Departing (H)	Rising (X)
Openness (開合)	Closed	Open	Open	Open	Open
Division (等)	I	IV	I	I	I
Fanqie	胡光切	他前切	胡口切	胡遘切	他魯切
Baxter	hwang	then	huwX	huwH	thuX
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/ɦwɑŋ/	/tʰen/	/ɦəuX/	/ɦəuH/	/tʰuoX/
Pan Wuyun	/ɦʷɑŋ/	/tʰen/	/ɦəuX/	/ɦəuH/	/tʰuoX/
Shao Rongfen	/ɣuɑŋ/	/tʰɛn/	/ɣəuX/	/ɣəuH/	/tʰoX/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/ɦwaŋ/	/tʰɛn/	/ɦəwX/	/ɦəwH/	/tʰɔX/
Li Rong	/ɣuɑŋ/	/tʰen/	/ɣuX/	/ɣuH/	/tʰoX/
Wang Li	/ɣuɑŋ/	/tʰien/	/ɣəuX/	/ɣəuH/	/tʰuX/
Bernhard Karlgren	/ɣwɑŋ/	/tʰien/	/ɣə̯uX/	/ɣə̯uH/	/tʰuoX/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	huáng	tiān	hòu	hòu	tǔ
Expected Cantonese Reflex	wong4	tin1	hau6	hau6	tou2

• Old Chinese

  (Baxter–Sagart): /*[ɢ]ʷˤaŋ  l̥ˤi[n]  ɢˤ(r)oʔ  tʰˤaʔ/

  (Zhengzhang): /*ɡʷaːŋ  qʰl'iːn  ɡoːʔ|ɡoːs  l̥ʰaːʔ/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	皇	天	后	土
Reading #	2/2	1/2	1/1	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	huáng	tiān	hòu	tǔ
Middle Chinese	‹ hwang ›	‹ then ›	‹ huwX ›	‹ thuX ›
Old Chinese	/*[ɢ]ʷˁaŋ/	/*l̥ˁi[n]/	/*ɢˁ(r)oʔ/	/*tʰˁaʔ/
English	sovereign	heaven	sovereign; queen	earth
Notes for Old Chinese notations in the Baxter–Sagart system: * Parentheses "()" indicate uncertain presence; * Square brackets "[]" indicate uncertain identity, e.g. *[t] as coda may in fact be *-t or *-p; * Angle brackets "<>" indicate infix; * Hyphen "-" indicates morpheme boundary; * Period "." indicates syllable boundary.

Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character	皇	天	后	后	土
Reading #	1/1	1/1	1/2	2/2	1/2
No.	12696	12387	5168	5172	12499
Phonetic component	王	天	后	后	土
Rime group	陽	眞	侯	侯	魚
Rime subdivision	0	1	0	0	0
Corresponding MC rime	黃	天	厚	𠋫	土
Old Chinese	/*ɡʷaːŋ/	/*qʰl'iːn/	/*ɡoːʔ/	/*ɡoːs/	/*l̥ʰaːʔ/
Notes	禮王制鄭注冕屬， 金文象羽冠，王聲；或雲象日射輝則爲暀晃初文

Idiom

皇天后土

1. the gods of heaven and earth

   • 臣之辛苦，非獨蜀之人士及二州牧伯所見明知；皇天后土，實所共鑒。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     臣之辛苦，非独蜀之人士及二州牧伯所见明知；皇天后土，实所共鉴。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: c. 267, 李密 (Li Mi),《陳情表》, translated by Luo Jingguo（罗经国）

     Chén zhī xīnkǔ, fēidú shǔ zhī rénshì jí èr zhōu mùbó suǒjiàn míngzhī; huángtiānhòutǔ, shí suǒ gòng jiàn. [Pinyin]

     Not only do the people of Shu, but also the officials of Liang and Ye know my situation well. Heaven and Earth, too, bear witness to my misery.

   • 皇天后土，胡寧忍此！知悲無益，奈恨無已。 [Literary Chinese, trad.]
     皇天后土，胡宁忍此！知悲无益，奈恨无已。 [Literary Chinese, simp.]

     From: 820 January 19, 劉禹錫 (Liu Yuxi), 《祭柳員外文》

     Huángtiānhòutǔ, húnìng rěn cǐ! Zhī bēi wúyì, nài hèn wúyǐ. [Pinyin]

     O Heaven and Earth, how could you bear to let this happen? Though I know grieving is useless, I cannot help but harbor endless sorrow and regret.