小巫見大巫

Chinese

		small; tiny; few small; tiny; few; young	witch; Malay	to see; to meet; to appear to see; to meet; to appear; to interview	big; great; huge big; great; huge; large; major; wide; deep; oldest; eldest; doctor	witch; Malay
trad. (小巫見大巫)		小	巫	見	大	巫
simp. (小巫见大巫)		小	巫	见	大	巫

Etymology

From Readings of the Taiping Era, Vol. 735, quoting Zhuangzi:

小巫見大巫，拔茅而弃，此其所以終身弗如也。 [Literary Chinese, trad.]

小巫见大巫，拔茅而弃，此其所以终身弗如也。 [Literary Chinese, simp.]

From: Taiping Yulan (Readings of the Taiping Era), 977 – 983 CE

Xiǎowū jiàn dàwū, bá máo ér qì, cǐ qí suǒyǐ zhōngshēn fú rú yě. [Pinyin]

Once an inexperienced magician saw [the spells of] a great magician, he pulled out the exorcistical weed and forsook it. This is why he would never be as mighty as that magician.

The quotation above was later lost in the current version of Zhuangzi. Alternatively, from a letter written by Chen Lin (d. 217), quoted in The Book of Wu.

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): xiǎo wū jiàn dà wū, xiǎo wú jiàn dà wú

(Zhuyin): ㄒㄧㄠˇ ㄨㄐㄧㄢˋ ㄉㄚˋ ㄨ, ㄒㄧㄠˇ ㄨˊ ㄐㄧㄢˋ ㄉㄚˋ ㄨˊ
Cantonese (Jyutping): siu² mou⁴ gin³ daai⁶ mou⁴

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese, standard in Mainland and Taiwan)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: xiǎo wū jiàn dà wū
  - Zhuyin: ㄒㄧㄠˇ ㄨㄐㄧㄢˋ ㄉㄚˋ ㄨ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: siǎo wu jiàn dà wu
  - Wade–Giles: hsiao³ wu¹ chien⁴ ta⁴ wu¹
  - Yale: syǎu wū jyàn dà wū
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: sheau u jiann dah u
  - Palladius: сяо у цзянь да у (sjao u czjanʹ da u)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ɕi̯ɑʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹ u⁵⁵ t͡ɕi̯ɛn⁵¹⁻⁵³ tä⁵¹ u⁵⁵/
- (Standard Chinese, standard in Taiwan)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: xiǎo wú jiàn dà wú
  - Zhuyin: ㄒㄧㄠˇ ㄨˊ ㄐㄧㄢˋ ㄉㄚˋ ㄨˊ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: siǎo wú jiàn dà wú
  - Wade–Giles: hsiao³ wu² chien⁴ ta⁴ wu²
  - Yale: syǎu wú jyàn dà wú
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: sheau wu jiann dah wu
  - Palladius: сяо у цзянь да у (sjao u czjanʹ da u)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ɕi̯ɑʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹ u³⁵ t͡ɕi̯ɛn⁵¹⁻⁵³ tä⁵¹ u³⁵/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: siu² mou⁴ gin³ daai⁶ mou⁴
  - Yale: síu mòuh gin daaih mòuh
  - Cantonese Pinyin: siu² mou⁴ gin³ daai⁶ mou⁴
  - Guangdong Romanization: xiu² mou⁴ gin³ dai⁶ mou⁴
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /siːu̯³⁵ mou̯²¹ kiːn³³ taːi̯²² mou̯²¹/

Middle Chinese: sjewX mju kenH dajH mju

Rime
Character	小	巫	見	大
Reading #	1/1	1/1	1/2	1/2
Initial (聲)	心 (16)	明 (4)	見 (28)	定 (7)
Final (韻)	宵 (91)	虞 (24)	先 (85)	泰 (25)
Tone (調)	Rising (X)	Level (Ø)	Departing (H)	Departing (H)
Openness (開合)	Open	Closed	Open	Open
Division (等)	III	III	IV	I
Fanqie	私兆切	武夫切	古電切	徒蓋切
Baxter	sjewX	mju	kenH	dajH
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/siᴇu^X/	/mɨo/	/ken^H/	/dɑi^H/
Pan Wuyun	/siɛu^X/	/mio/	/ken^H/	/dɑi^H/
Shao Rongfen	/sjæu^X/	/mio/	/kɛn^H/	/dɑi^H/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/siaw^X/	/muə̆/	/kɛn^H/	/daj^H/
Li Rong	/siɛu^X/	/mio/	/ken^H/	/dɑi^H/
Wang Li	/sĭɛu^X/	/mĭu/	/kien^H/	/dɑi^H/
Bernhard Karlgren	/si̯ɛu^X/	/mi̯u/	/kien^H/	/dʱɑi^H/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	xiǎo	wú	jiàn	dài
Expected Cantonese Reflex	siu²	mou⁴	gin³	daai⁶

Old Chinese
(Baxter–Sagart): /*[s]ewʔ C.m(r)[o] [k]ˤen-s lˤat-s|lˤa[t]-s C.m(r)[o]/

(Zhengzhang): /*smewʔ ma keːns daːds ma/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	小	巫	見	大	大
Reading #	1/1	1/1	1/3	1/2	2/2
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	xiǎo	wū	jiàn	dà	dà
Middle Chinese	‹ sjew^X ›	‹ mju ›	‹ ken^H ›	‹ da^H ›	‹ daj^H ›
Old Chinese	/*[s]ewʔ/	/*C.m(r)[o]/	/*[k]ˁen-s/	/*lˁat-s/ (MC F!)	/*lˁa[t]-s/
English	small	magician	see (v.)	big	big
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	小	巫	見	大	大
Reading #	1/1	1/1	1/2	1/2	2/2
No.	13705	13062	6192	1934	1939
Phonetic component	小	巫	見	大	大
Rime group	宵	魚	元	祭	祭
Rime subdivision	2	0	2	1	1
Corresponding MC rime	小	無	見	䭾	大
Old Chinese	/*smewʔ/	/*ma/	/*keːns/	/*daːds/	/*daːds/
Notes	甲金文象沙而指小，指事字

Idiom

小巫見大巫

to pale in comparison