量入為出

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See also: 量入为出

Chinese

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capacity; quantity; amount
capacity; quantity; amount; to estimate; to measure
 
to enter
because of; for; to
because of; for; to; act as; take...to be; to be; to do; to serve as; to become
 
to go out; to come out; to occur
to go out; to come out; to occur; to produce; to go beyond; to rise; to put forth; to happen; (a measure word for dramas, plays, or operas)
 
trad. (量入為出/量入爲出) /
simp. (量入为出)
anagram 量出為入量出为入

Etymology

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From the Book of Rites, Book 5 (《禮記·王制》):

冢宰五穀然後三十量入為出 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
冢宰五谷然后三十量入为出 [Classical Chinese, simp.]
From: The Book of Rites, c. 4th – 2nd century BCE, translated based on James Legge's version
Zhǒngzǎi zhì guóyòng, bì yú suì zhī miǎo, wǔgǔ jiē rù ránhòu zhì guóyòng. Yòng dì xiǎodà, shì nián zhī fēnghào. Yǐ sānshí nián zhī tōng zhì guóyòng, liàng rùwéi chū, jì yòng shù zhī lè. [Pinyin]
The chief minister determined the expenditure of the states, and it was the rule that he should do so at the close of the year. When the five kinds of grain had all been gathered in, he then determined the expenditure - according to the size of each territory, as large or small, and the returns of the year, as abundant or poor. On the average of thirty years he determined the expenditure, regulating the outgoing by the income. A tenth of the (year's) expenditure was for sacrifices.

Pronunciation

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Idiom

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量入為出

  1. make ends meet; adjust one's expense to one's income; base one's expenditures upon one's income