撥亂反正

Chinese

		to put in order, to govern	disorder; to manage	to redress (an injustice), to right; to return	justice, right
trad. (撥亂反正)		撥	亂	反	正
simp. (拨乱反正)		拨	乱	反	正

Etymology

From the Commentary of Gongyang:

君子曷為為《春秋》？撥亂世，反諸正，莫近諸《春秋》。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]

君子曷为为《春秋》？拨乱世，反诸正，莫近诸《春秋》。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: Commentary of Gongyang, c. 206 BCE– 9 CE

Jūnzǐ héwèi wéi “Chūnqiū”? Bō luànshì, fǎn zhū zhèng, mò jìn zhū “Chūnqiū”. [Pinyin]

For what (purpose) did the Noble One compose the Spring and Autumn Annals? To repair a chaotic world and redress it in goodness and justice — there is no other way closer to (achieving this ideal) than (the meanings contained in the words of) the Spring and Autumn.

The character 撥 in this phrase is traditionally glossed as 治 (zhì, “to impose order; to govern/manage; to repair/cure; etc.”) — for instance by He Xiu (何休, 129–182 CE) and Yan Shigu (顏師古, 581–645 CE) — whereas 亂 is interpreted as "disordered; chaotic; upside-down". Alternatively (and rarely), 亂 is used as a verb that means "to apply order; to arrange; to manage", and is considered a synonym of 撥 here.

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): bōluànfǎnzhèng
(Zhuyin): ㄅㄛㄌㄨㄢˋ ㄈㄢˇ ㄓㄥˋ
Cantonese (Jyutping): but⁶ lyun⁶ faan² zing³

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: bōluànfǎnzhèng
  - Zhuyin: ㄅㄛㄌㄨㄢˋ ㄈㄢˇ ㄓㄥˋ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: boluànfǎnjhèng
  - Wade–Giles: po¹-luan⁴-fan³-chêng⁴
  - Yale: bwō-lwàn-fǎn-jèng
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: boluannfaanjenq
  - Palladius: болуаньфаньчжэн (boluanʹfanʹčžɛn)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /pwɔ⁵⁵ lwän⁵¹ fän²¹⁴⁻²¹¹ ʈ͡ʂɤŋ⁵¹/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
  - Jyutping: but⁶ lyun⁶ faan² zing³
  - Yale: buht lyuhn fáan jing
  - Cantonese Pinyin: but⁹ lyn⁶ faan² dzing³
  - Guangdong Romanization: bud⁶ lün⁶ fan² jing³
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /puːt̚² lyːn²² faːn³⁵ t͡sɪŋ³³/

Middle Chinese: /puɑt̚ luɑn^H pʰʉɐn|pʉɐn^X t͡ɕiᴇŋ^H/

Rime
Character	撥	亂	反	反	正
Reading #	1/1	1/1	1/2	2/2	2/2
Initial (聲)	幫 (1)	來 (37)	滂 (2)	幫 (1)	章 (23)
Final (韻)	桓 (64)	桓 (62)	元 (66)	元 (66)	清 (121)
Tone (調)	Checked (Ø)	Departing (H)	Level (Ø)	Rising (X)	Departing (H)
Openness (開合)	Closed	Closed	Closed	Closed	Open
Division (等)	I	I	III	III	III
Fanqie	北末切	郎段切	孚袁切	府遠切	之盛切
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/puɑt̚/	/luɑn^H/	/pʰʉɐn/	/pʉɐn^X/	/t͡ɕiᴇŋ^H/
Pan Wuyun	/pʷɑt̚/	/lʷɑn^H/	/pʰʷiɐn/	/pʷiɐn^X/	/t͡ɕiɛŋ^H/
Shao Rongfen	/puɑt̚/	/luɑn^H/	/pʰiuɐn/	/piuɐn^X/	/t͡ɕiæŋ^H/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/pwat̚/	/lwan^H/	/pʰuan/	/puan^X/	/ciajŋ^H/
Li Rong	/puɑt̚/	/luɑn^H/	/pʰiuɐn/	/piuɐn^X/	/t͡ɕiɛŋ^H/
Wang Li	/puɑt̚/	/luɑn^H/	/pʰĭwɐn/	/pĭwɐn^X/	/t͡ɕĭɛŋ^H/
Bernard Karlgren	/puɑt̚/	/luɑn^H/	/pʰi̯wɐn/	/pi̯wɐn^X/	/t͡ɕi̯ɛŋ^H/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	bo	luàn	fān	fǎn	zhèng
Expected Cantonese Reflex	but³	lyun⁶	faan¹	faan²	zing³

Old Chinese
(Baxter–Sagart): /*pˤat [r]ˤo[n]-s Cə.panʔ teŋ-s/
(Zhengzhang): /*paːd roːns pʰan|panʔ tjeŋs/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	撥	亂	反	正
Reading #	1/1	1/1	2/2	2/2
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	bō	luàn	fǎn	zhèng
Middle Chinese	‹ pat ›	‹ lwan^H ›	‹ pjon^X ›	‹ tsyeng^H ›
Old Chinese	/*pˁat/	/*[r]ˁo[n]-s/	/*Cə.panʔ/	/*teŋ-s/
English	spread out	disorder, rebellion	reverse (v.)	correct (adj., v.)
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	撥	亂	反	反	正
Reading #	1/1	1/1	2/2	1/2	2/2
No.	2831	8645	2974	2968	17178
Phonetic component	發	亂	反	反	正
Rime group	月	元	元	元	耕
Rime subdivision	1	3	1	1	0
Corresponding MC rime	撥	亂	飜	反	政
Old Chinese	/*paːd/	/*roːns/	/*pʰan/	/*panʔ/	/*tjeŋs/

Idiom

撥亂反正

to bring order out of chaos; to set right what have been thrown into disorder; to restore justice
- 漢興，撥亂反正，日不暇給，猶命叔孫通制禮儀，以正君臣之位。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
  汉兴，拨乱反正，日不暇给，犹命叔孙通制礼仪，以正君臣之位。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]
  From: The Book of Han, circa 1^st century CE
  Hàn xìng, bōluànfǎnzhèng, rì bù xiá jǐ, yóu mìng Shūsūn Tōng zhì lǐyí, yǐ zhèng jūnchén zhī wèi. [Pinyin]
  In the early days since Han arose, (the imperial government) was thoroughly immersed in the business of righting the wrongs (of Qin and the wars that followed) as if there were never enough hours in each day, yet it was still able to commission Shusun Tong with the creation of court ceremonies, in order that the monarch and the subjects could find themselves in their rightful places.