肝腦塗地

Chinese

		liver and brain; one's body or life	to smear; daub	earth; ground; field earth; ground; field; place; land; (subor. part. adverbial); ‑ly
trad. (肝腦塗地)		肝腦	塗	地
simp. (肝脑涂地)		肝脑	涂	地
Literally: “liver and brains smear the ground”.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): gānnǎotúdì

  (Zhuyin): ㄍㄢ ㄋㄠˇ ㄊㄨˊ ㄉㄧˋ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): gon¹ nou⁵ tou⁴ dei⁶

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: gānnǎotúdì
    • Zhuyin: ㄍㄢ ㄋㄠˇ ㄊㄨˊ ㄉㄧˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: gannǎotúdì
    • Wade–Giles: kan¹-nao³-tʻu²-ti⁴
    • Yale: gān-nǎu-tú-dì
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: gannaotwudih
    • Palladius: ганьнаотуди (ganʹnaotudi)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /kän⁵⁵ nɑʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹ tʰu³⁵ ti⁵¹/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: gon¹ nou⁵ tou⁴ dei⁶
    • Yale: gōn nóuh tòuh deih
    • Cantonese Pinyin: gon¹ nou⁵ tou⁴ dei⁶
    • Guangdong Romanization: gon¹ nou⁵ tou⁴ déi⁶
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /kɔːn⁵⁵ nou̯¹³ tʰou̯²¹ tei̯²²/

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• Middle Chinese: kan nawX du dijH

Rime
Character	肝	腦	塗	地
Reading #	1/1	1/2	1/2	1/1
Initial (聲)	見 (28)	泥 (8)	定 (7)	定 (7)
Final (韻)	寒 (61)	豪 (89)	模 (23)	脂 (15)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)	Rising (X)	Level (Ø)	Departing (H)
Openness (開合)	Open	Open	Open	Open
Division (等)	I	I	I	III
Fanqie	古寒切	奴晧切	同都切	徒四切
Baxter	kan	nawX	du	dijH
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/kɑn/	/nɑuX/	/duo/	/diɪH/
Pan Wuyun	/kɑn/	/nɑuX/	/duo/	/diH/
Shao Rongfen	/kɑn/	/nɑuX/	/do/	/djɪH/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/kan/	/nawX/	/dɔ/	/diH/
Li Rong	/kɑn/	/nɑuX/	/do/	/diH/
Wang Li	/kɑn/	/nɑuX/	/du/	/diH/
Bernhard Karlgren	/kɑn/	/nɑuX/	/dʱuo/	/dʱiH/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	gān	nǎo	tú	dì
Expected Cantonese Reflex	gon1	nou5	tou4	dei6

• Old Chinese

  (Baxter–Sagart): /*s.kˤa[r]  nˤ[u]ʔ  lˤa  [l]ˤej-s/

  (Zhengzhang): /*kaːn  nuːʔ  l'aː  l'els/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	肝	腦	塗	地
Reading #	1/1	1/1	1/2	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	gān	nǎo	tú	dì
Middle Chinese	‹ kan ›	‹ nawX ›	‹ du ›	‹ dijH ›
Old Chinese	/*s.kˁa[r]/	/*nˁ[u]ʔ/	/*lˁa/	/*[l]ˁej-s/
English	liver	brain	to plaster	earth, ground
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	肝	腦	塗	地
Reading #	1/1	1/2	2/2	1/1
No.	3568	9370	15774	14808
Phonetic component	干	匘	余	也
Rime group	元	幽	魚	歌
Rime subdivision	1	1	0	2
Corresponding MC rime	干	堖	徒	地
Old Chinese	/*kaːn/	/*nuːʔ/	/*l'aː/	/*l'els/
Notes		見左傳，說文作匘

Idiom

肝腦塗地

1. to die a terrible death
2. to offer one's life sacrificially in loyalty

   • 臣當死，往者醉失禮，王隱忍不加誅也；臣終不敢以蔭蔽之德而不顯報王也，常願肝腦塗地，用頸血湔敵久矣，臣乃夜絕纓者。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     臣当死，往者醉失礼，王隐忍不加诛也；臣终不敢以荫蔽之德而不显报王也，常愿肝脑涂地，用颈血湔敌久矣，臣乃夜绝缨者。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: c. 77 B.C.E., 劉向 (Liu Xiang), 《說苑》 (Garden of Stories), chapter 6

     Chén dāng sǐ, wǎngzhě zuì shīlǐ, wáng yǐnrěn bù jiā zhū yě; chén zhōng bùgǎn yǐ yìnbì zhī dé ér bùxiǎn bào wáng yě, cháng yuàn gānnǎotúdì, yòng jǐng xuè jiān dí jiǔ yǐ, chén nǎi yè juéyīng zhě. [Pinyin]

     I should have been put to death. A few years ago, I got drunk and forgot my manners. Your Majesty showed restraint and did not put me to death. I would never dare not overtly repay Your Majesty's covert kindness. I would rather put my life on the line and drown the enemy in my own blood, for I am the one whose headpiece cord was yanked off on that night.

   • 武曰：「武父子亡功德，皆爲陛下所成就，位列將，爵通侯，兄弟親近，常願肝腦塗地。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     武曰：「武父子亡功德，皆为陛下所成就，位列将，爵通侯，兄弟亲近，常愿肝脑涂地。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: The Book of Han, circa 1^st century CE

     Wǔ yuē: “Wǔ fùzǐ wú gōngdé, jiē wéi bìxià suǒ chéngjiù, wèiliè jiàng, jué tōng hóu, xiōngdì qīnjìn, cháng yuàn gānnǎotúdì. [Pinyin]

     “My father, my brothers, and I were without merit or virtue—all we had was bestowed upon us by the emperor. We were placed among the ranks of generals, enfeoffed as marquises, and my brothers permitted to wait upon the emperor in person. Our constant desire was to serve, though it meant spilling our very liver and brains upon the ground!” Su Wu replied.