四德

Chinese

		four	Germany; virtue; goodness Germany; virtue; goodness; morality; ethics; kindness; favor; character; kind
simp. and trad. (四德)		四	德

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): sìdé
(Zhuyin): ㄙˋ ㄉㄜˊ
Cantonese (Jyutping): sei³ dak¹

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: sìdé
  - Zhuyin: ㄙˋ ㄉㄜˊ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: sìhdé
  - Wade–Giles: ssŭ⁴-tê²
  - Yale: sz̀-dé
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: syhder
  - Palladius: сыдэ (sydɛ)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /sz̩⁵¹ tɤ³⁵/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
  - Jyutping: sei³ dak¹
  - Yale: sei dāk
  - Cantonese Pinyin: sei³ dak⁷
  - Guangdong Romanization: séi³ deg¹
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /sei̯³³ tɐk̚⁵/

Middle Chinese: /siɪ^H tək̚/

Rime
Character	四	德
Reading #	1/1	1/1
Initial (聲)	心 (16)	端 (5)
Final (韻)	脂 (15)	登 (131)
Tone (調)	Departing (H)	Checked (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Open	Open
Division (等)	III	I
Fanqie	息利切	多則切
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/siɪ^H/	/tək̚/
Pan Wuyun	/si^H/	/tək̚/
Shao Rongfen	/sjɪ^H/	/tək̚/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/si^H/	/tək̚/
Li Rong	/si^H/	/tək̚/
Wang Li	/si^H/	/tək̚/
Bernard Karlgren	/si^H/	/tək̚/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	sì	de
Expected Cantonese Reflex	si³	dak¹

Old Chinese
(Baxter–Sagart): /*s.li[j]-s tˤək/
(Zhengzhang): /*hljids tɯːɡ/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	四	德
Reading #	1/1	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	sì	dé
Middle Chinese	‹ sij^H ›	‹ tok ›
Old Chinese	/*s.li[j]-s/	/*tˁək/
English	four	virtue
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	四	德
Reading #	1/1	1/1
No.	12022	17266
Phonetic component	四	直
Rime group	至	職
Rime subdivision	1	0
Corresponding MC rime	四	德
Old Chinese	/*hljids/	/*tɯːɡ/

Noun

四德

(literary) the "four womanly virtues" (according to traditional Chinese culture, i.e. wifely ethics, wifely speech, wifely manners/appearance, and wifely work)
- 許因謂曰：「婦有四德，卿有其幾？」婦曰：「新婦所乏唯容爾。然士有百行，君有幾？」 [Literary Chinese, trad.]
  许因谓曰：“妇有四德，卿有其几？”妇曰：“新妇所乏唯容尔。然士有百行，君有几？” [Literary Chinese, simp.]
  From: Liu Yiqing (editor), A New Account of the Tales of the World, 5^th century CE
  Xǔ yīn wèi yuē: “Fù yǒu sìdé, qīng yǒu qí jǐ?” Fù yuē: “Xīnfù suǒfá wéi róng ěr. Rán shì yǒu bǎixíng, jūn yǒu jǐ?” [Pinyin]
  Xu therefore asked her, "There are the Four Virtues demanded on a wife. How many of them do you possess?" "Your new bride is lacking in but the appearance. Yet among the multitude of virtues that a high-born man should emulate, how many have you achieved?" said his wife.
(literary) Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see 四,‎ 德.
- 背施無親，幸災不仁，貪愛不祥，怒鄰不義；四德皆失，何以守國？ [Classical Chinese, trad.]
  背施无亲，幸灾不仁，贪爱不祥，怒邻不义；四德皆失，何以守国？ [Classical Chinese, simp.]
  From: Commentary of Zuo, c. 4^th century BCE
  Bèi shī wúqīn, xìng zāi bùrén, tān ài bùxiáng, nù lín bùyì; sìdé jiē shī, héyǐ shǒu guó? [Pinyin]
  To betray goodwill is the path to one's own betrayal; to revel in others' pain is to violate charity; to be stringy and avaricious is to beckon ill fate; and to provoke a neighbour's anger is to place oneself in the wrong. Having contravened these four ethical principles, with what can one protect one's state?

Derived terms

三從四德／三从四德 (sāncóngsìdé)