登泰山而小天下

Chinese

		to go up; to climb; ascend to go up; to climb; ascend; mount; register; note; to publish; to issue; to record	Mount Tai	and; as well as; but (not) and; as well as; but (not); yet (not); (shows causal relation); (shows change of state); (shows contrast)	small; tiny; few small; tiny; few; young	under heaven; the world; everything under the sky under heaven; the world; everything under the sky; all under heaven
trad. (登泰山而小天下)		登	泰山	而	小	天下
simp. #(登泰山而小天下)		登	泰山	而	小	天下

Etymology

From the book Mencius:

孟子曰：孔子登東山而小魯，登泰山而小天下。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]

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孟子曰：孔子登东山而小鲁，登泰山而小天下。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: Mencius, c. 4^th century BCE

Mèngzǐ yuē: Kǒngzǐ dēng Dōngshān ér xiǎo Lǔ, dēng Tàishān ér xiǎo tiānxià. [Pinyin]

Mencius said, "Having climbed the East Peak (of Mount Tai), Lu seemed small to Confucius. Having climbed to the top of Mount Tai, the whole world below seemed small.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): dēng Tàishān ér xiǎo tiānxià

  (Zhuyin): ㄉㄥ ㄊㄞˋ ㄕㄢ ㄦˊ ㄒㄧㄠˇ ㄊㄧㄢ ㄒㄧㄚˋ

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: dēng Tàishān ér xiǎo tiānxià
    • Zhuyin: ㄉㄥ ㄊㄞˋ ㄕㄢ ㄦˊ ㄒㄧㄠˇ ㄊㄧㄢ ㄒㄧㄚˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: deng Tàishan ér siǎo tiansià
    • Wade–Giles: têng¹ Tʻai⁴-shan¹ êrh² hsiao³ tʻien¹-hsia⁴
    • Yale: dēng Tài-shān ér syǎu tyān-syà
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: deng Tayshan erl sheau tianshiah
    • Palladius: дэн Тайшань эр сяо тянься (dɛn Tajšanʹ er sjao tjanʹsja)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /tɤŋ⁵⁵ tʰaɪ̯⁵¹ ʂän⁵⁵ ˀɤɻ³⁵ ɕi̯ɑʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹ tʰi̯ɛn⁵⁵ ɕi̯ä⁵¹/

Idiom

登泰山而小天下

1. to be able to see far and wide