出淤泥而不染

Chinese

		to go out; to come out; to occur to go out; to come out; to occur; to produce; to go beyond; to rise; to put forth; to happen; (a measure word for dramas, plays, or operas)	silt; sludge; ooze	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	to catch (a disease); dye
trad. (出淤泥而不染)		出	淤泥	而	不	染
simp. ^#(出淤泥而不染)		出	淤泥	而	不	染
Literally: “emerge from the sludge without becoming soiled”.

Etymology

From Zhou Dunyi (周敦颐)'s Ai Lian Shuo (爱莲说).

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): chū yūní ér bù rǎn

(Zhuyin): ㄔㄨㄩㄋㄧˊ ㄦˊ ㄅㄨˋ ㄖㄢˇ
Cantonese (Jyutping): ceot¹ jyu¹ nai⁴ ji⁴ bat¹ jim⁵

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: chū yūní ér bù rǎn
  - Zhuyin: ㄔㄨㄩㄋㄧˊ ㄦˊ ㄅㄨˋ ㄖㄢˇ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: chu yuní ér bù rǎn
  - Wade–Giles: chʻu¹ yü¹-ni² êrh² pu⁴ jan³
  - Yale: chū yū-ní ér bù rǎn
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: chu iuni erl bu raan
  - Palladius: чу юйни эр бу жань (ču jujni er bu žanʹ)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ʈ͡ʂʰu⁵⁵ y⁵⁵ ni³⁵ ˀɤɻ³⁵ pu⁵¹ ʐän²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: ceot¹ jyu¹ nai⁴ ji⁴ bat¹ jim⁵
  - Yale: chēut yū nàih yìh bāt yíhm
  - Cantonese Pinyin: tsoet⁷ jy¹ nai⁴ ji⁴ bat⁷ jim⁵
  - Guangdong Romanization: cêd¹ yu¹ nei⁴ yi⁴ bed¹ yim⁵
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sʰɵt̚⁵ jyː⁵⁵ nɐi̯²¹ jiː²¹ pɐt̚⁵ jiːm¹³/

Idiom

出淤泥而不染

to rise out of the ghetto and make something of oneself; to have been in bad surroundings without allowing oneself to be affected by them.