不學無術

Chinese

not; no
learn; study; science
learn; study; science; ‑ology
 
not have method; technique
trad. (不學無術)
simp. (不学无术)
alternative forms 不學亡術不学亡术

Etymology

From The Book of Han, Vol. 68 (《霍光傳》贊, Eulogy to the Memoir of Huo Guang):

不學亡術大理湛溺盈溢顛覆三年宗族誅夷,哀哉 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
不学亡术大理湛溺盈溢颠覆三年宗族诛夷,哀哉 [Classical Chinese, simp.]
From: The Book of Han, circa 1st century CE
Rán guāng bù xué wú shù, àn yú dàlǐ, yīn qī xié móu, lì nǚ wéi hòu, chénnì yíngyì zhī yù, yǐ zēng diānfù zhī huò, sǐ cái sānnián, zōngzú zhūyí, āizāi! [Pinyin]
But Huo Guang lacked learning and over-all strategy and was blind to fundamental principles. He shielded his wife’s nefarious designs, had his daughter made empress, and drowned himself in an ever-swelling sea of desires, thus hastening the day when disaster would strike. Barely three years after his death his family was exterminated, a sad fate indeed!

Pronunciation



Rime
Character
Reading # 3/3 1/1 1/1 1/1
Initial () (1) (33) (4) (27)
Final () (60) (10) (24) (52)
Tone (調) Checked (Ø) Checked (Ø) Level (Ø) Checked (Ø)
Openness (開合) Closed Open Closed Closed
Division () III II III III
Fanqie
Baxter pjut haewk mju zywit
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang
/pɨut̚/ /ɦˠʌk̚/ /mɨo/ /ʑiuɪt̚/
Pan
Wuyun
/piut̚/ /ɦᵚɔk̚/ /mio/ /ʑʷit̚/
Shao
Rongfen
/piuət̚/ /ɣɔk̚/ /mio/ /ʑjuet̚/
Edwin
Pulleyblank
/put̚/ /ɦaɨwk̚/ /muə̆/ /ʑwit̚/
Li
Rong
/piuət̚/ /ɣɔk̚/ /mio/ /d͡ʑiuĕt̚/
Wang
Li
/pĭuət̚/ /ɣɔk̚/ /mĭu/ /d͡ʑĭuĕt̚/
Bernhard
Karlgren
/pi̯uət̚/ /ɣɔk̚/ /mi̯u/ /d͡ʑʰi̯uĕt̚/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex
fu xué shú
Expected
Cantonese
Reflex
fat1 hok6 mou4 seot6
BaxterSagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character
Reading # 1/2 1/1 1/3 1/1
Modern
Beijing
(Pinyin)
xué shù
Middle
Chinese
‹ pjuw › ‹ hæwk › ‹ mju › ‹ zywit ›
Old
Chinese
/*pə/ /*m-kˁruk/ /*ma/ /*Cə-lut/
English not study; imitate not have technique

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
Reading # 3/3 1/1 1/1 1/1
No. 1048 14079 13117 11853
Phonetic
component
Rime
group
Rime
subdivision
1 1 0 2
Corresponding
MC rime
Old
Chinese
/*pɯ'/ /*ɡruːɡ/ /*ma/ /*ɦljud/
Notes

Idiom

不學無術

  1. to be tactless due to the lack of knowledge; without learning or skills; to be not keen on learning anything