長袖善舞

Chinese

	long	sleeve	good	to dance; to wield; to brandish
trad. (長袖善舞)	長	袖	善	舞
simp. (长袖善舞)	长	袖	善	舞
Literally: “long sleeves make a good dance”.

Etymology

鄙諺曰：「長袖善舞，多錢善賈。」此言多資之易為工也。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]

鄙谚曰：「长袖善舞，多钱善贾。」此言多资之易为工也。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: Han Feizi, circa 2^nd century BCE

Bǐyàn yuē: “Cháng xiù shàn wǔ, duō qián shàn gǔ.” Cǐ yán duō zī zhī yì wèi gōng yě. [Pinyin]

There was a saying that “Long sleeves make a good dance, more money makes better business.” This means that if you have more resources, you can do things easier.

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): chángxiùshànwǔ

(Zhuyin): ㄔㄤˊ ㄒㄧㄡˋ ㄕㄢˋ ㄨˇ
Cantonese (Jyutping): coeng⁴ zau⁶ sin⁶ mou⁵

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: chángxiùshànwǔ
  - Zhuyin: ㄔㄤˊ ㄒㄧㄡˋ ㄕㄢˋ ㄨˇ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: chángsiòushànwǔ
  - Wade–Giles: chʻang²-hsiu⁴-shan⁴-wu³
  - Yale: cháng-syòu-shàn-wǔ
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: charngshiowshannwuu
  - Palladius: чансюшаньу (čansjušanʹu)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /ʈ͡ʂʰɑŋ³⁵ ɕi̯oʊ̯⁵¹⁻⁵³ ʂän⁵¹ u²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: coeng⁴ zau⁶ sin⁶ mou⁵
  - Yale: chèuhng jauh sihn móuh
  - Cantonese Pinyin: tsoeng⁴ dzau⁶ sin⁶ mou⁵
  - Guangdong Romanization: cêng⁴ zeo⁶ xin⁶ mou⁵
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sʰœːŋ²¹ t͡sɐu̯²² siːn²² mou̯¹³/

Middle Chinese: drjang zjuwH dzyenX mjuX

Rime
Character	長	袖	善	舞
Reading #	1/3	1/1	1/1	1/1
Initial (聲)	澄 (11)	邪 (17)	常 (25)	明 (4)
Final (韻)	陽 (105)	尤 (136)	仙 (77)	虞 (24)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)	Departing (H)	Rising (X)	Rising (X)
Openness (開合)	Open	Open	Open	Closed
Division (等)	III	III	III	III
Fanqie	直良切	似祐切	常演切	文甫切
Baxter	drjang	zjuwH	dzyenX	mjuX
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/ɖɨɐŋ/	/zɨu^H/	/d͡ʑiᴇn^X/	/mɨo^X/
Pan Wuyun	/ɖiɐŋ/	/ziu^H/	/d͡ʑiɛn^X/	/mio^X/
Shao Rongfen	/ȡiɑŋ/	/ziəu^H/	/d͡ʑjæn^X/	/mio^X/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/ɖɨaŋ/	/zuw^H/	/d͡ʑian^X/	/muə̆^X/
Li Rong	/ȡiaŋ/	/ziu^H/	/ʑiɛn^X/	/mio^X/
Wang Li	/ȡĭaŋ/	/zĭəu^H/	/ʑĭɛn^X/	/mĭu^X/
Bernhard Karlgren	/ȡʱi̯aŋ/	/zi̯ə̯u^H/	/ʑi̯ɛn^X/	/mi̯u^X/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	cháng	xiù	shàn	wǔ
Expected Cantonese Reflex	coeng⁴	zau⁶	sin⁶	mou⁵

Old Chinese
(Baxter–Sagart): /*Cə-[N]-traŋ sə.[l]u-s [ɡ]e[n]ʔ k.m(r)aʔ/

(Zhengzhang): /*taŋʔ ljɯwɢs ɡjenʔ maʔ/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	長	袖	善	舞
Reading #	1/2	1/1	1/1	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	cháng	xiù	shàn	wǔ
Middle Chinese	‹ drjang ›	‹ zjuw^H ›	‹ dzyen^X ›	‹ mju^X ›
Old Chinese	/*Cə-[N]-traŋ/	/*sə.[l]u-s/	/*[ɡ]e[n]ʔ/	/*k.m(r)aʔ/
English	long (adj.)	sleeve	good	dance (v.)
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	長	袖	善	舞
Reading #	1/3	1/1	1/1	1/1
No.	1263	15510	11084	13126
Phonetic component	長	由	善	無
Rime group	陽	奧	元	魚
Rime subdivision	0	2	2	0
Corresponding MC rime	長	岫	善	武
Old Chinese	/*taŋʔ/	/*ljɯwɢs/	/*ɡjenʔ/	/*maʔ/
Notes		說文俗褎字

Idiom

長袖善舞

to have tricks up one’s sleeve and be likely to succeed
(of businesspeople or politicians) be able to make good use of one's connections