歌功頌德

Chinese

		song	merit; achievement; result merit; achievement; result; service; accomplishment	to praise	Germany; virtue; goodness Germany; virtue; goodness; morality; ethics; kindness; favour; character; kind
trad. (歌功頌德)		歌	功	頌	德
simp. (歌功颂德)		歌	功	颂	德

Etymology

From 《史記·周本紀》 (Records of the Grand Historian: Annals of Zhou)

民皆歌樂之，頌其德。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]

民皆歌乐之，颂其德。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: The Records of the Grand Historian, by Sima Qian, c. 91 BCE

Mín jiē gēyuè zhī, sòng qí dé. [Pinyin]

The people all sang his praises and eulogized his virtues.

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): gēgōngsòngdé

(Zhuyin): ㄍㄜㄍㄨㄥㄙㄨㄥˋ ㄉㄜˊ
Cantonese (Jyutping): go¹ gung¹ zung⁶ dak¹

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: gēgōngsòngdé
  - Zhuyin: ㄍㄜㄍㄨㄥㄙㄨㄥˋ ㄉㄜˊ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: gegongsòngdé
  - Wade–Giles: ko¹-kung¹-sung⁴-tê²
  - Yale: gē-gūng-sùng-dé
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: gegongsonqder
  - Palladius: гэгунсундэ (gɛgunsundɛ)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /kɤ⁵⁵ kʊŋ⁵⁵ sʊŋ⁵¹ tɤ³⁵/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: go¹ gung¹ zung⁶ dak¹
  - Yale: gō gūng juhng dāk
  - Cantonese Pinyin: go¹ gung¹ dzung⁶ dak⁷
  - Guangdong Romanization: go¹ gung¹ zung⁶ deg¹
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /kɔː⁵⁵ kʊŋ⁵⁵ t͡sʊŋ²² tɐk̚⁵/

Idiom

歌功頌德

(now derogatory) to sing somebody's praises; to heap praises and eulogies
- 我多次拒绝外国人要我写自传。如果自传只讲功不讲过，本身就变成了歌功颂德，吹嘘自己，那有什么必要？ [MSC, simp.]
  我多次拒絕外國人要我寫自傳。如果自傳只講功不講過，本身就變成了歌功頌德，吹噓自己，那有什麼必要？ [MSC, trad.]
  From: 4 Sept. 1989, Deng Xiaoping, in The Selected Works of Deng Xiaoping, Vol. 3
  Wǒ duōcì jùjué wàiguórén yào wǒ xiě zìzhuàn. Rúguǒ zìzhuàn zhǐ jiǎng gōng bù jiǎng guò, běnshēn jiù biànchéng le gēgōngsòngdé, chuīxū zìjǐ, nà yǒu shénme bìyào? [Pinyin]
  I have declined many times the request of foreigners that I write my autobiography. If an autobiography is only about the author's merits and doesn't speak of his mistakes, he is simply lavishing praise on himself. What's the point of that?