久假不歸

Chinese

		(long) time; (long) duration of time	vacation; fake; false vacation; fake; false; artificial; to borrow; if; suppose	not; no	to go back; to return
trad. (久假不歸)		久	假	不	歸
simp. (久假不归)		久	假	不	归

Etymology

Originally, “to borrow the name of renyi (benevolence and righteousness) without actually practicing them”. From Jin Xin I of Mencius:

孟子曰：「堯舜，性之也；湯武，身之也；五霸，假之也。久假而不歸，惡知其非有也。」 [Classical Chinese, trad.][▼ expand/hide]
孟子曰：“尧舜，性之也；汤武，身之也；五霸，假之也。久假而不归，恶知其非有也。” [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: Mengzi (Mencius), circa 4^th century BCE

Mèngzǐ yuē: “Yáo Shùn, xìng zhī yě; Tāng Wǔ, shēn zhī yě; wǔ bà, jiǎ zhī yě. Jiǔ jiǎ ér bù guī, wū zhī qí fēi yǒu yě.” [Pinyin]

Mencius said, 'Benevolence and righteousness were natural to Yao and Shun. Tang and Wu made them their own. The five chiefs of the princes feigned them. Having borrowed them long and not returned them, how could it be known they did not own them?' (translated by James Legge)

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): jiǔjiǎbùguī

(Zhuyin): ㄐㄧㄡˇ ㄐㄧㄚˇ ㄅㄨˋ ㄍㄨㄟ
Cantonese (Jyutping): gau² gaa² bat¹ gwai¹

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Pinyin: jiǔjiǎbùguī [Phonetic: jiújiǎbùguī]
  - Zhuyin: ㄐㄧㄡˇ ㄐㄧㄚˇ ㄅㄨˋ ㄍㄨㄟ
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: jeoujeabu4guei
  - IPA ^(key): /t͡ɕi̯oʊ̯²¹⁴⁻³⁵ t͡ɕi̯a̠²¹⁴⁻²¹¹ pu⁵¹ ku̯eɪ̯⁵⁵/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou)⁺
  - Jyutping: gau² gaa² bat¹ gwai¹
  - Yale: gáu gá bāt gwāi
  - Cantonese Pinyin: gau² gaa² bat⁷ gwai¹
  - Guangdong Romanization: geo² ga² bed¹ guei¹
  - IPA ^(key): /kɐu̯³⁵ kɑː³⁵ pɐt̚⁵ kʷɐi̯⁵⁵/

Idiom

久假不歸

to borrow something and not return it for a long time

Usage notes

By interpreting the characters as 久假不歸 (jiǔ jià bù guī), the idiom could be mistaken to mean "to be on vacation for a long time and not return".

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