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芟夷

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

Chinese

[edit]
to mow; to cut to kill; to eradicate
trad. (芟夷)
simp. #(芟夷)
alternative forms 芟荑

Etymology

[edit]

The phrase can be found in early written literature such as the Zuozhuan (《左傳·隱公六年》):

國家農夫芟夷蘊崇使 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
国家农夫芟夷蕴崇使 [Classical Chinese, simp.]
From: Commentary of Zuo, c. 4th century BCE
Wéi guójiā zhě, jiàn è rú nóngfū zhī wù qù cǎo yān. Shānyí yùnchóng zhī, jué qí běngēn, wùshǐ néng zhí, zé shànzhě shēn yǐ. [Pinyin]
Those charged with the administration of a state or hereditary fief, on seeing evil deeds, acts like a peasant who is obliged to vigorously remove the weeds. He cuts them down, uproots them, collects every single one of them, and pile them up; he destroys their roots and stops them from propagating. Thus, the good ones can grow.

Pronunciation

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Rime
Character
Reading # 1/1 1/1
Initial () (21) (36)
Final () (149) (15)
Tone (調) Level (Ø) Level (Ø)
Openness (開合) Open Open
Division () II III
Fanqie
Baxter sraem yij
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang
/ʃˠam/ /jiɪ/
Pan
Wuyun
/ʃᵚam/ /ji/
Shao
Rongfen
/ʃam/ /jɪ/
Edwin
Pulleyblank
/ʂaɨm/ /ji/
Li
Rong
/ʃam/ /i/
Wang
Li
/ʃam/ /ji/
Bernhard
Karlgren
/ʂam/ /i/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex
shān
Expected
Cantonese
Reflex
saam1 ji4
BaxterSagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character
Reading # 1/1 1/2
Modern
Beijing
(Pinyin)
shān
Middle
Chinese
‹ sræm › ‹ yij ›
Old
Chinese
/*[s]ˁr[a]m/ /*ləj/
English mow (v.) level, peaceful

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
Reading # 1/1 1/1
No. 11069 14862
Phonetic
component
Rime
group
Rime
subdivision
3 1
Corresponding
MC rime
Old
Chinese
/*sroːm/ /*lil/
Notes

Verb

[edit]

芟夷

  1. (literary) to weed; to mow grass
  2. (literary, figurative) to cut down; to delete
  3. (literary, figurative) to destroy completely; to annihilate; to eradicate; to wipe out