사대

Korean

Sino-Korean word from 事大, from 事 (“serve”) + 大 (“great [state]”), often attributed to a saying in Mencius (translation by James Legge):

惟智者為能以小事大。 / 惟智者为能以小事大。

And it requires a wise [ruler] to be able with a small State to serve a great.

(SK Standard/Seoul) IPA^(key): [ˈsʰa̠(ː)dɛ] ~ [ˈsʰa̠(ː)de̞]
Phonetic hangul: [사(ː)대/사(ː)데]
- Though still prescribed in Standard Korean, most speakers in both Koreas no longer distinguish vowel length.

Romanizations
Revised Romanization^?	sadae
Revised Romanization (translit.)^?	sadae
McCune–Reischauer^?	sadae
Yale Romanization^?	sātay

사대 • (sadae) (hanja 事大)

(historical) traditional East Asian states' deferential diplomacy towards the Chinese empire
1. in particular, Korea's traditional diplomacy towards China, in which the latter was considered the source of Korean political legitimacy
  - c. 1644, published in c. 1790, 朝鮮孝宗 (Hyojong of Korea), 樂學拾零 (Akhak Seumnyeong) [Tidbits of the Musical Sciences]:
    大明崇禎 이 어듸 러로 가시건고 / 三百年事大誠信 을 못ᄂᆡ 슬허 ᄒᆞ노라
    Daemyeong Sungjeong-i eoduireoro gasigeon'go / sambaengnyeon sadae seongsin-eul monnae seulheo hanora
    Where has Chongzhen of the Great Ming gone? / Again and again I grieve for three centuries of integrity in serving China.
(modern, critical) a sycophantic or self-effacing diplomacy towards a stronger nation
any situation in which a person or country acts deferentially towards a stronger power