天高皇帝遠

天高皇帝遠

See also: 天高皇帝远

Chinese

		day; sky; heaven	high; tall	emperor	far; distant; remote
trad. (天高皇帝遠)		天	高	皇帝	遠
simp. (天高皇帝远)		天	高	皇帝	远

Etymology

Literally: Heaven is high (above, and the) emperor is far (away)

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): tiān gāo huángdì yuǎn

  (Zhuyin): ㄊㄧㄢ ㄍㄠ ㄏㄨㄤˊ ㄉㄧˋ ㄩㄢˇ

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Pinyin: tiān gāo huángdì yuǎn
    • Zhuyin: ㄊㄧㄢ ㄍㄠ ㄏㄨㄤˊ ㄉㄧˋ ㄩㄢˇ
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: tian gau hwangdih yeuan
    • IPA ^(key): /tʰi̯ɛn⁵⁵ kɑʊ̯⁵⁵ xu̯ɑŋ³⁵ ti⁵¹ y̯ɛn²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/

Idiom

天高皇帝遠

1. describes remote areas beyond the control of a central government

   • 傳統的中國是“一盤散沙”，名義上是“專制國家”，其實是個“天高皇帝遠”的“文化範疇”。 [MSC, trad.]
     传统的中国是“一盘散沙”，名义上是“专制国家”，其实是个“天高皇帝远”的“文化范畴”。 [MSC, simp.]

     From: 2000: anon, 咨询型法治与中国国情 (The control of information and China's national mood)

     Chuántǒng de Zhōngguó shì “yīpánsànshā”, míngyì shàng shì “zhuānzhì guójiā”, qíshí shì ge “tiāngāohuángdìyuǎn” de “wénhuà fànchóu”. [Pinyin]

     Traditional China was a loose confederation. Nominally, it was an "autocratic state," but actually belonged to a "category of civilizations" whereby "remote areas were beyond the control of a central government."

See also

• 山高皇帝遠／山高皇帝远 (shān gāo huángdì yuǎn)