百足之蟲，死而不僵

百足之蟲，死而不僵

Chinese

		millipede; the rich and powerful		to die; impassable; uncrossable to die; impassable; uncrossable; inflexible; rigid	and; as well as; but (not) and; as well as; but (not); yet (not); (shows causal relation); (shows change of state); (shows contrast)	not; no	rigid; deadlock; stiff (corpse)
trad. (百足之蟲，死而不僵)		百足之蟲	，	死	而	不	僵
simp. (百足之虫，死而不僵)		百足之虫	，	死	而	不	僵
Literally: “a centipede does not topple over even when dead”.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): bǎizúzhīchóng, sǐ'érbùjiāng

  (Zhuyin): ㄅㄞˇ ㄗㄨˊ ㄓ ㄔㄨㄥˊ, ㄙˇ ㄦˊ ㄅㄨˋ ㄐㄧㄤ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): baak³ zuk¹ zi¹ cung⁴, sei² ji⁴ bat¹ goeng¹

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Pinyin: bǎizúzhīchóng, sǐ'érbùjiāng
    • Zhuyin: ㄅㄞˇ ㄗㄨˊ ㄓ ㄔㄨㄥˊ, ㄙˇ ㄦˊ ㄅㄨˋ ㄐㄧㄤ
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: baetzwujychorng, syyerlbujiang
    • Tongyong Pinyin: bǎizújhihchóng, sǐh'érbùjiang
    • IPA ^(key): /paɪ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹¹ t͡su³⁵ ʈ͡ʂʐ̩⁵⁵ ʈ͡ʂʰʊŋ³⁵ sz̩²¹⁴⁻²¹¹ ˀɤɻ³⁵ pu⁵¹ t͡ɕjɑŋ⁵⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
    • Jyutping: baak³ zuk¹ zi¹ cung⁴, sei² ji⁴ bat¹ goeng¹
    • Yale: baak jūk jī chùhng, séi yìh bāt gēung
    • Cantonese Pinyin: baak⁸ dzuk⁷ dzi¹ tsung⁴, sei² ji⁴ bat⁷ goeng¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: bag³ zug¹ ji¹ cung⁴, séi² yi⁴ bed¹ gêng¹
    • IPA ^(key): /päːk̚³ t͡sʊk̚⁵ t͡siː⁵⁵ t͡sʰʊŋ²¹ sei̯³⁵ jiː²¹ pɐt̚⁵ kœ̽ːŋ⁵⁵/

Idiom

百足之蟲，死而不僵

1. old institutions die hard