易如反掌

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Chinese

change; easy; simple as (if); such as to turn over one's palm; to be very easy to accomplish
trad. (易如反掌) 反掌
simp. #(易如反掌) 反掌
Literally: “as easy as turning one's hand over”.

Etymology

From Mencius:


From: Mencius, c. 4th century BCE, translated based on James Legge's version
Yǐ Qí wàng, yóu fǎn shǒu yě.
To raise Qi to the royal dignity would be as easy as it is to turn round the hand.

The four-character form first attested in c. 154 BCE, in Mei Cheng (or Mei Sheng)'s letter to Liu Bi, dissuading him from revolt:

累卵難於上天易於反掌安於泰山
累卵难于上天易于反掌安于泰山
From: c. 154 BCE, 枚乘,上書諫吳王, translated by Stephen Owen
Bì ruò suǒ yù wéi, wēi yú lěiluǎn, nán yú shàngtiān; biàn suǒ yù wéi, yì yú fǎnzhǎng, ān yú Tàishān.
If you must act as you wish, it will be:
more precarious than a pile of eggs,
harder than climbing to Heaven.
If you change what you wish, it will be:
easier than turning over the hand,
more secure than Tai Mountain.

Pronunciation



Rime
Character
Reading # 1/2 1/2 2/2 1/1
Initial () (36) (38) (1) (23)
Final () (11) (22) (66) (105)
Tone (調) Departing (H) Level (Ø) Rising (X) Rising (X)
Openness (開合) Open Open Closed Open
Division () III III III III
Fanqie
Baxter yeH nyo pjonX tsyangX
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang
Shangfang
/jiᴇH/ /ȵɨʌ/ /pʉɐnX/ /t͡ɕɨɐŋX/
Pan
Wuyun
/jiɛH/ /ȵiɔ/ /pʷiɐnX/ /t͡ɕiɐŋX/
Shao
Rongfen
/jɛH/ /ȵʑiɔ/ /piuɐnX/ /t͡ɕiɑŋX/
Edwin
Pulleyblank
/jiə̆H/ /ȵɨə̆/ /puanX/ /cɨaŋX/
Li
Rong
/ieH/ /ȵiɔ/ /piuɐnX/ /t͡ɕiaŋX/
Wang
Li
/jǐeH/ /ȵʑĭo/ /pĭwɐnX/ /t͡ɕĭaŋX/
Bernhard
Karlgren
/ie̯H/ /ȵʑi̯wo/ /pi̯wɐnX/ /t͡ɕi̯aŋX/
Expected
Mandarin
Reflex
fǎn zhǎng
Expected
Cantonese
Reflex
ji6 jyu4 faan2 zoeng2
BaxterSagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character
Reading # 1/2 2/2 2/2 1/1
Modern
Beijing
(Pinyin)
fǎn zhǎng
Middle
Chinese
‹ yeH › ‹ nyo › ‹ pjonX › ‹ tsyangX ›
Old
Chinese
/*lek-s/ /*na/ /*Cə.panʔ/ /*aŋʔ/
English easy as, like, if reverse (v.) palm of the hand

Notes for Old Chinese notations in the Baxter–Sagart system:

* Parentheses "()" indicate uncertain presence;
* Square brackets "" indicate uncertain identity, e.g. * 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
Reading # 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/1
No. 15029 9623 2968 11146
Phonetic
component
Rime
group
Rime
subdivision
0 0 1 0
Corresponding
MC rime
Old
Chinese
/*leːɡs/ /*nja/ /*panʔ/ /*tjaŋʔ/

Idiom

易如反掌

  1. easy as ABC; simple as kiss your hand

Synonyms

Antonyms

See also