退避三舍

退避三舍

Chinese

		to keep away; to step aside; to retreat to avoid	three	residence
trad. (退避三舍)		退避	三	舍
simp. #(退避三舍)		退避	三	舍
Literally: “to retreat ninety li”.

Etymology

From the account of Duke Wen of Jin promising the king of Chu to retreat ninety li when the state of Jin meets it in battle in the future.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): tuìbìsānshè

  (Zhuyin): ㄊㄨㄟˋ ㄅㄧˋ ㄙㄢ ㄕㄜˋ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): teoi³ bei⁶ saam¹ se³

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: tuìbìsānshè
    • Zhuyin: ㄊㄨㄟˋ ㄅㄧˋ ㄙㄢ ㄕㄜˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: tuèibìsanshè
    • Wade–Giles: tʻui⁴-pi⁴-san¹-shê⁴
    • Yale: twèi-bì-sān-shè
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: tueybihsansheh
    • Palladius: туйбисаньшэ (tujbisanʹšɛ)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /tʰweɪ̯⁵¹⁻⁵³ pi⁵¹ sän⁵⁵ ʂɤ⁵¹/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
    • Jyutping: teoi³ bei⁶ saam¹ se³
    • Yale: teui beih sāam se
    • Cantonese Pinyin: toey³ bei⁶ saam¹ se³
    • Guangdong Romanization: têu³ béi⁶ sam¹ sé³
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /tʰɵy̯³³ pei̯²² saːm⁵⁵ sɛː³³/

Idiom

退避三舍

1. to give way to avoid a conflict in the face of superior strength (to avoid heavy losses)