眼觀四面，耳聽八方

Chinese

		eye	to look at; to watch; to observe to look at; to watch; to observe; to behold; Taoist monastery	four directions; all sides; all around		to keep one's ear to the ground; alert; watchful to keep one's ear to the ground; alert; watchful; vigilant
trad. (眼觀四面，耳聽八方)		眼	觀	四面	，	耳聽八方
simp. (眼观四面，耳听八方)		眼	观	四面	，	耳听八方
Literally: “to keep an eye on the four directions and the ear out for the eight directions”.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): yǎn guān sìmiàn, ěr tīng bāfāng

  (Zhuyin): ㄧㄢˇ ㄍㄨㄢ ㄙˋ ㄇㄧㄢˋ , ㄦˇ ㄊㄧㄥ ㄅㄚ ㄈㄤ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): ngaan⁵ gun¹ sei³ min⁶, ji⁵ ting¹ baat³ fong¹

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: yǎn guān sìmiàn, ěr tīng bāfāng
    • Zhuyin: ㄧㄢˇ ㄍㄨㄢ ㄙˋ ㄇㄧㄢˋ , ㄦˇ ㄊㄧㄥ ㄅㄚ ㄈㄤ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: yǎn guan sìhmiàn, ěr ting bafang
    • Wade–Giles: yen³ kuan¹ ssŭ⁴-mien⁴, êrh³ tʻing¹ pa¹-fang¹
    • Yale: yǎn gwān sz̀-myàn-, ěr tīng bā-fāng
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: yean guan syhmiann, eel ting bafang
    • Palladius: янь гуань сымянь, эр тин бафан (janʹ guanʹ symjanʹ, er tin bafan)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /jɛn²¹⁴⁻²¹ ku̯än⁵⁵ sz̩⁵¹⁻⁵³ mi̯ɛn⁵¹ ˀɤɻ²¹⁴⁻²¹ tʰiŋ⁵⁵ pä⁵⁵ fɑŋ⁵⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: ngaan⁵ gun¹ sei³ min⁶, ji⁵ ting¹ baat³ fong¹
    • Yale: ngáahn gūn sei mihn, yíh tīng baat fōng
    • Cantonese Pinyin: ngaan⁵ gun¹ sei³ min⁶, ji⁵ ting¹ baat⁸ fong¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: ngan⁵ gun¹ séi³ min⁶, yi⁵ ting¹ bad³ fong¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ŋaːn¹³ kuːn⁵⁵ sei̯³³ miːn²² jiː¹³ tʰɪŋ⁵⁵ paːt̚³ fɔːŋ⁵⁵/

Idiom

眼觀四面，耳聽八方

1. Synonym of 眼觀六路，耳聽八方 / 眼观六路，耳听八方 (yǎn guān liùlù, ěr tīng bāfāng, “to have sharp eyes and keen ears; to be observant and alert”)