言者無罪，聞者足戒

Chinese

		to speak; to say; talk to speak; to say; talk; word	‑ist, ‑er (person); person (who does something)	not have	guilt; crime; fault guilt; crime; fault; blame; sin		hear; news; celebrated hear; news; celebrated; sniff at	‑ist, ‑er (person); person (who does something)	foot; to be sufficient	swear off; warn against
trad. (言者無罪，聞者足戒)		言	者	無	罪	，	聞	者	足	戒
simp. (言者无罪，闻者足戒)		言	者	无	罪	，	闻	者	足	戒

Etymology

From the Classic of Poetry, great preface (《詩經·大序》):

上以風化下，下以風刺上，主文而譎諫，言之者無罪，聞之者足以戒，故曰「風」。 [Pre-Classical Chinese, trad.]

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上以风化下，下以风刺上，主文而谲谏，言之者无罪，闻之者足以戒，故曰「风」。 [Pre-Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: The Classic of Poetry, c. 11^th – 7^th centuries BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

Shàng yǐ fēnghuà xià, xià yǐ fěngcì shàng, zhǔ wén ér jué jiàn, yán zhī zhě wúzuì, wén zhī zhě zúyǐ jiè, gù yuē “fēng”. [Pinyin]

Superiors, by the Feng, transformed their inferiors, and inferiors, by them, satirized their superiors. The principal thing in them was their style, and reproof was cunningly insinuated. They might be spoken without giving offence, and the bearing of them was sufficient to make men careful of their conduct; — hence they are called Feng [or Lessons of manners].

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): yánzhě wú zuì, wénzhě zú jiè

  (Zhuyin): ㄧㄢˊ ㄓㄜˇ ㄨˊ ㄗㄨㄟˋ , ㄨㄣˊ ㄓㄜˇ ㄗㄨˊ ㄐㄧㄝˋ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): jin⁴ ze² mou⁴ zeoi⁶, man⁴ ze² zuk¹ gaai³

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: yánzhě wú zuì, wénzhě zú jiè
    • Zhuyin: ㄧㄢˊ ㄓㄜˇ ㄨˊ ㄗㄨㄟˋ , ㄨㄣˊ ㄓㄜˇ ㄗㄨˊ ㄐㄧㄝˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: yánjhě wú zuèi, wúnjhě zú jiè
    • Wade–Giles: yen²-chê³ wu² tsui⁴, wên²-chê³ tsu² chieh⁴
    • Yale: yán-jě wú dzwèi-, wén-jě dzú jyè
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: yanjee wu tzuey, wenjee tzwu jieh
    • Palladius: яньчжэ у цзуй, вэньчжэ цзу цзе (janʹčžɛ u czuj, vɛnʹčžɛ czu cze)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /jɛn³⁵ ʈ͡ʂɤ²¹⁴⁻²¹ u³⁵ t͡su̯eɪ̯⁵¹ wən³⁵ ʈ͡ʂɤ²¹⁴⁻²¹ t͡su³⁵ t͡ɕi̯ɛ⁵¹/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: jin⁴ ze² mou⁴ zeoi⁶, man⁴ ze² zuk¹ gaai³
    • Yale: yìhn jé mòuh jeuih, màhn jé jūk gaai
    • Cantonese Pinyin: jin⁴ dze² mou⁴ dzoey⁶, man⁴ dze² dzuk⁷ gaai³
    • Guangdong Romanization: yin⁴ zé² mou⁴ zêu⁶, men⁴ zé² zug¹ gai³
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /jiːn²¹ t͡sɛː³⁵ mou̯²¹ t͡sɵy̯²² mɐn²¹ t͡sɛː³⁵ t͡sʊk̚⁵ kaːi̯³³/

Idiom

言者無罪，聞者足戒

1. blame not the speaker but be warned by their words