宮保

See also: 宫保

Chinese

		palace; uterus	to defend; to protect; to insure or guarantee to defend; to protect; to insure or guarantee; to maintain; hold or keep; to guard
trad. (宮保)		宮	保
simp. (宫保)		宫	保

Etymology

The archaic usage referred to one of several titles during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. However, by the end of the Qing Dynasty, the title was merely honorific and did not necessarily mean that the person had anything to do with tutoring the crown prince. According to legend, because this title was bestowed upon Ding Baozhen, the inventor of Kung Pao chicken, it later came to be used as the name for the dish itself.

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): gōngbǎo
(Zhuyin): ㄍㄨㄥㄅㄠˇ
Cantonese (Jyutping): gung¹ bou²

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: gōngbǎo
  - Zhuyin: ㄍㄨㄥㄅㄠˇ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: gongbǎo
  - Wade–Giles: kung¹-pao³
  - Yale: gūng-bǎu
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: gongbao
  - Palladius: гунбао (gunbao)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /kʊŋ⁵⁵ pɑʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
  - Jyutping: gung¹ bou²
  - Yale: gūng bóu
  - Cantonese Pinyin: gung¹ bou²
  - Guangdong Romanization: gung¹ bou²
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /kʊŋ⁵⁵ pou̯³⁵/

Noun

宮保

kung pao style of cooking (e.g. Kung Pao chicken)
(archaic) senior tutor of the crown prince (during the Ming Dynasty, shorthand for 太子太保)
(archaic) assistant to the senior tutor of the crown prince (during the Qing Dynasty, short for 太子少保)

Derived terms

宮保雞丁／宫保鸡丁 (Gōngbǎo jīdīng)

Related terms

太子太保
太子少保

References

Kung Pao chicken on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
宮保雞丁 on the Chinese Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^zh
東宮三師 on the Chinese Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^zh