天經地義

See also: 天经地义

Chinese

		day; sky; heaven	classics; sacred book; pass through classics; sacred book; pass through; to undergo; scripture	earth; ground; field earth; ground; field; place; land; (subor. part. adverbial); ‑ly	justice; righteousness; meaning
trad. (天經地義)		天	經	地	義
simp. (天经地义)		天	经	地	义

From an aphorism posthumously attributed to Zichan (子產) by You Ji (aka. Zitaishu, 子大叔) as recorded in the Zuozhuan.

夫禮，天之經也，地之義也，民之行也。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]

夫礼，天之经也，地之义也，民之行也。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: Commentary of Zuo, c. 4^th century BCE

Fú lǐ, tiān zhī jīng yě, dì zhī yì yě, mín zhī xìng yě. [Pinyin]

Propriety, it is the unchanging ways of heaven, the just ways of earth, and the rightful path of every human being.

Mandarin
(Pinyin): tiānjīngdìyì

(Zhuyin): ㄊㄧㄢㄐㄧㄥㄉㄧˋ ㄧˋ
Cantonese (Jyutping): tin¹ ging¹ dei⁶ ji⁶
Min Nan
(Hokkien, POJ): thian-keng-tē-gī / thian-keng-tōe-gī

(Teochew, Peng'im): tiang¹ gêng¹ di⁷ ngi⁶

天經地義

conforming to the traditional Chinese notion of the rules of heaven and the principles of Earth; that which is taken as a matter of course; proper practice or convention; time-honoured principle
欠債還錢，天經地義 [MSC, trad.]
欠债还钱，天经地义 [MSC, simp.]
qiànzhài háiqián, tiānjīngdìyì [Pinyin]
It is a matter of course to pay debts when one owes money.

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