不共戴天

Chinese

		not; no	all together; in while; to share all together; in while; to share; common; general; together; total	to put on; to respect; to bear to put on; to respect; to bear; to support; wear (glasses, hat, gloves)	day; sky; heaven
simp. and trad. (不共戴天)		不	共	戴	天

Etymology

From the Book of Rites, Book 1 (《禮記·曲禮上》):

父之讎，弗與共戴天。兄弟之讎不反兵。交游之讎不同國。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]

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父之雠，弗与共戴天。兄弟之雠不反兵。交游之雠不同国。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: The Book of Rites, c. 4^th – 2^nd century BCE

Fù zhī chóu, fú yǔ gòng dài tiān. Xiōngdì zhī chóu bù fǎn bīng. Jiāoyóu zhī chóu bù tóng guó. [Pinyin]

With the enemy who has slain his father, one should not live under the same heaven. With the enemy who has slain his brother, one should never have his sword to seek (to deal vengeance). With the enemy who has slain his intimate friend, one should not live in the same state (without seeking to slay him).

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): bùgòngdàitiān

  (Zhuyin): ㄅㄨˋ ㄍㄨㄥˋ ㄉㄞˋ ㄊㄧㄢ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): bat¹ gung⁶ daai³ tin¹

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: bùgòngdàitiān [Phonetic: búgòngdàitiān]
    • Zhuyin: ㄅㄨˋ ㄍㄨㄥˋ ㄉㄞˋ ㄊㄧㄢ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: bùgòngdàitian
    • Wade–Giles: pu⁴-kung⁴-tai⁴-tʻien¹
    • Yale: bù-gùng-dài-tyān
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: bugonqdaytian
    • Palladius: бугундайтянь (bugundajtjanʹ)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /pu⁵¹⁻³⁵ kʊŋ⁵¹⁻⁵³ taɪ̯⁵¹ tʰi̯ɛn⁵⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: bat¹ gung⁶ daai³ tin¹
    • Yale: bāt guhng daai tīn
    • Cantonese Pinyin: bat⁷ gung⁶ daai³ tin¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: bed¹ gung⁶ dai³ tin¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /pɐt̚⁵ kʊŋ²² taːi̯³³ tʰiːn⁵⁵/

Idiom

不共戴天

1. to be absolutely irreconcilable

Derived terms

• 不共戴天之仇