土崩瓦解

Chinese

		to collapse and be ruined beyond repair	to disintegrate; to collapse; to crumble to disintegrate; to collapse; to crumble; to fall apart
trad. (土崩瓦解)		土崩	瓦解
simp. ^#(土崩瓦解)		土崩	瓦解

Etymology

Attested in 秦記論 by Ban Gu, which was quoted in the Records of the Grand Historian:

秦之積衰，天下土崩瓦解，雖有周旦之材，無所復陳其巧，而以責一日之孤，誤哉！ [Classical Chinese, trad.]

秦之积衰，天下土崩瓦解，虽有周旦之材，无所复陈其巧，而以责一日之孤，误哉！ [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: 74 CE, Ban Gu, 秦記論

Qín zhī jī shuāi, tiānxià tǔbēngwǎjiě, suī yǒu Zhōu Dàn zhī cái, wú suǒ fù chén qí qiǎo, ér yǐ zé yī rì zhī gū, wù zāi! [Pinyin]

With Qin's accumulated downward trend, the state was falling apart. Even talents like the Duke of Zhou (the founding father of the Western Zhou Dynasty) could not possibly have turned the situation around. What a mistake it was [for Jia Yi (the author of Ten Crimes of Qin) and Sima Qian (the author of the Records of the Grand Historian)] to blame this on its new emperor!

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): tǔbēngwǎjiě

(Zhuyin): ㄊㄨˇ ㄅㄥㄨㄚˇ ㄐㄧㄝˇ
Cantonese (Jyutping): tou² bang¹ ngaa⁵ gaai²

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: tǔbēngwǎjiě [Phonetic: tǔbēngwájiě]
  - Zhuyin: ㄊㄨˇ ㄅㄥㄨㄚˇ ㄐㄧㄝˇ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: tǔbengwǎjiě
  - Wade–Giles: tʻu³-pêng¹-wa³-chieh³
  - Yale: tǔ-bēng-wǎ-jyě
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: tuubengwoajiee
  - Palladius: тубэнвацзе (tubɛnvacze)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /tʰu²¹⁴⁻²¹ pɤŋ⁵⁵ wä²¹⁴⁻³⁵ t͡ɕi̯ɛ²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: tou² bang¹ ngaa⁵ gaai²
  - Yale: tóu bāng ngáh gáai
  - Cantonese Pinyin: tou² bang¹ ngaa⁵ gaai²
  - Guangdong Romanization: tou² beng¹ nga⁵ gai²
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /tʰou̯³⁵ pɐŋ⁵⁵ ŋaː¹³ kaːi̯³⁵/

Idiom

土崩瓦解

to completely fall apart; to completely collapse
- 君臣相惑，土崩瓦解而相伐射。 [Classical Chinese, trad. and simp.]
  From: Guiguzi, "Mend-Break" (鬼谷子·抵巇)
  Jūn chén xiāng huò, tǔbēngwǎjiě ér xiāng fá shè. [Pinyin]
  The monarch and his officials became suspicious of each other, and their relationship fell apart, and they attacked each other.

Japanese

Kanji in this term
土	崩	瓦	解
ど Grade: 1	ほう Grade: S	が Grade: S	かい Grade: 5
on’yomi

Noun

土(ど)崩(ほう)瓦(が)解(かい) • (dohōgakai)

the situation of completely falling apart beyond repair

Verb

土(ど)崩(ほう)瓦(が)解(かい)する • (dohōgakai suru) suru (stem 土(ど)崩(ほう)瓦(が)解(かい)し (dohōgakai shi), past 土(ど)崩(ほう)瓦(が)解(かい)した (dohōgakai shita))

to completely fall apart

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