大義滅親

Chinese

		principles of justice; Dayi	extinguish	dear; intimate; parent dear; intimate; parent; relation; closely related; parents-in-law of one's offspring
trad. (大義滅親)		大義	滅	親
simp. (大义灭亲)		大义	灭	亲

Etymology

From Zuo Zhuan. Zhou Yu (w:zh:州吁) had murdered his brother, Duke Huan of Wey (w:zh:衛桓公), and taken his place. But he could not gain the favor of the people of Wey. Shi Que (w:zh:石碏), an officer loyal to the state, devised a scheme and had the usurper killed. Shi Que's son Shi Hou was a close associate of Zhou Yu, so Shi Que had his son killed as well. The people praised his act (《左傳·隱公四年》):

君子曰：「石碏，純臣也，惡州籲而厚與焉。『大義滅親』，其是之謂乎！」 [Classical Chinese, trad.]

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君子曰：「石碏，纯臣也，恶州吁而厚与焉。『大义灭亲』，其是之谓乎！」 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: Commentary of Zuo, c. 4^th century BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

Jūnzǐ yuē: “Shí Què, chún chén yě, wù Zhōu Yù ér Hòu yǔ yān. ‘dàyì miè qīn’, qí shì zhī wèi hū!” [Pinyin]

A superior man may say, "Shi Que was a minister without blemish. He hated Zhou Yu, with whom his own son Hou was art and part; — and did he not so afford an illustration of the saying that great righteousness is supreme over the affections?"

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): dàyìmièqīn

  (Zhuyin): ㄉㄚˋ ㄧˋ ㄇㄧㄝˋ ㄑㄧㄣ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): daai⁶ ji⁶ mit⁶ can¹

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: dàyìmièqīn
    • Zhuyin: ㄉㄚˋ ㄧˋ ㄇㄧㄝˋ ㄑㄧㄣ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: dàyìmiècin
    • Wade–Giles: ta⁴-i⁴-mieh⁴-chʻin¹
    • Yale: dà-yì-myè-chīn
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: dahyihmiehchin
    • Palladius: даимецинь (daimecinʹ)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /tä⁵¹⁻⁵³ i⁵¹⁻⁵³ mi̯ɛ⁵¹ t͡ɕʰin⁵⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: daai⁶ ji⁶ mit⁶ can¹
    • Yale: daaih yih miht chān
    • Cantonese Pinyin: daai⁶ ji⁶ mit⁹ tsan¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: dai⁶ yi⁶ mid⁶ cen¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /taːi̯²² jiː²² miːt̚² t͡sʰɐn⁵⁵/

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• Middle Chinese: dajH|daH ngjeH mjiet tshin

Rime
Character	大	大	義	滅	親
Reading #	1/2	2/2	1/1	1/1	1/2
Initial (聲)	定 (7)	定 (7)	疑 (31)	明 (4)	清 (14)
Final (韻)	泰 (25)	歌 (94)	支 (13)	仙 (81)	眞 (43)
Tone (調)	Departing (H)	Departing (H)	Departing (H)	Checked (Ø)	Level (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Open	Open	Open	Open	Open
Division (等)	I	I	III	III	III
Fanqie	徒蓋切	唐佐切	宜寄切	亡列切	七人切
Baxter	dajH	daH	ngjeH	mjiet	tshin
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/dɑiH/	/dɑH/	/ŋˠiᴇH/	/miᴇt̚/	/t͡sʰiɪn/
Pan Wuyun	/dɑiH/	/dɑH/	/ŋᵚiɛH/	/miɛt̚/	/t͡sʰin/
Shao Rongfen	/dɑiH/	/dɑH/	/ŋiɛH/	/mjæt̚/	/t͡sʰjen/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/dajH/	/daH/	/ŋjiə̆H/	/miat̚/	/t͡sʰin/
Li Rong	/dɑiH/	/dɑH/	/ŋjeH/	/miɛt̚/	/t͡sʰiĕn/
Wang Li	/dɑiH/	/dɑH/	/ŋǐeH/	/mĭɛt̚/	/t͡sʰĭĕn/
Bernard Karlgren	/dʱɑiH/	/dʱɑH/	/ŋie̯H/	/mi̯ɛt̚/	/t͡sʰi̯ĕn/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	dài	duò	yì	miè	qīn
Expected Cantonese Reflex	daai6	do6	ji6	mit6	can1

• Old Chinese

  (Baxter–Sagart): /*lˤat-s|lˤa[t]-s  ŋ(r)aj-s  [m]et  [tsʰ]i[n]/

  (Zhengzhang): /*daːds  ŋrals  med  sʰin/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	大	大	義	滅	親
Reading #	1/2	2/2	1/1	1/1	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	dà	dà	yì	miè	qīn
Middle Chinese	‹ daH ›	‹ dajH ›	‹ ngjeH ›	‹ mjiet ›	‹ tshin ›
Old Chinese	/*lˁat-s/ (MC F!)	/*lˁa[t]-s/	/*ŋ(r)aj-s/	/*[m]et/	/*[tsʰ]i[n]/
English	big	big	duty; justice	destroy	close; parents
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	大	大	義	滅	親
Reading #	1/2	2/2	1/1	1/1	1/2
No.	1934	1939	13045	13942	13804
Phonetic component	大	大	我	戌	辛
Rime group	祭	祭	歌	月	眞
Rime subdivision	1	1	1	2	2
Corresponding MC rime	䭾	大	議	滅	親
Old Chinese	/*daːds/	/*daːds/	/*ŋrals/	/*med/	/*sʰin/
Notes				烕轉註	說文親（同榛）聲

Idiom

大義滅親

1. to place righteousness before family​; to be ready to punish one's own family if justice demands it