# 一言以蔽之
## Chinese

| | | one sentence; something to say; brief remark | to use; according to; so as toto use; according to; so as to; in order to; by; with; because; Israel (abbrev.) | to cover; to shield; to screento cover; to shield; to screen; to conceal | 's; him/her/it; this |
| trad. (一言以蔽之) | trad. (一言以蔽之) | 一言 | 以 | 蔽 | 之 |
| simp. $^#$(一言以蔽之) | simp. $^#$(一言以蔽之) | 一言 | 以 | 蔽 | 之 |

### Etymology

From the Analects, Book 2 (《論語·爲政》):
    子曰：「詩三百，一言以蔽之，曰『思無邪』。」 [Classical Chinese, trad.]子曰：「诗三百，一言以蔽之，曰『思无邪』。」 [Classical Chinese, simp.]From: The Analects of Confucius, c. 475 – 221 BCE, translated based on James Legge's versionZǐyuē: “Shī sānbǎi, yīyán yǐ bì zhī, yuē ‘sīwúxié’.” [Pinyin]The Master said, "In the Book of Poetry are three hundred pieces, but the design of them all may be embraced in one sentence — 'Having no depraved thoughts.'"

### Pronunciation

* Mandarin
    (Pinyin): yīyán yǐ bì zhī
    (Zhuyin): ㄧ ㄧㄢˊ ㄧˇ ㄅㄧˋ ㄓ
* Cantonese (Jyutping): jat$^1$ jin$^4$ ji$^5$ bai$^3$ zi$^1$
* Mandarin
** (Standard Chinese)
*** Hanyu Pinyin: yīyán yǐ bì zhī [Phonetic: yìyán yǐ bì zhī]
*** Zhuyin: ㄧ ㄧㄢˊ ㄧˇ ㄅㄧˋ ㄓ
*** Tongyong Pinyin: yiyán yǐ bì jhih
*** Wade–Giles: i$^1$-yen$^2$ i$^3$ pi$^4$ chih$^1$
*** Yale: yī-yán yǐ bì jr̄
*** Gwoyeu Romatzyh: iyan yii bih jy
*** Palladius: иянь и би чжи (ijanʹ i bi čži)
*** Sinological IPA : /i⁵⁵⁻⁵¹ jɛn³⁵ i²¹⁴⁻²¹ pi⁵¹ ʈ͡ʂʐ̩⁵⁵/
* Cantonese
** (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
*** Jyutping: jat$^1$ jin$^4$ ji$^5$ bai$^3$ zi$^1$
*** Yale: yāt yìhn yíh bai jī
*** Cantonese Pinyin: jat$^7$ jin$^4$ ji$^5$ bai$^3$ dzi$^1$
*** Guangdong Romanization: yed$^1$ yin$^4$ yi$^5$ bei$^3$ ji$^1$
*** Sinological IPA : /jɐt̚⁵ jiːn²¹ jiː¹³ pɐi̯³³ t͡siː⁵⁵/
* Middle Chinese: 'jit ngjon yiX pjiejH tsyi
Rime :
| Character | 一 | 言 | 以 | 蔽 | 之 |
| Reading # | 1/1 | 1/1 | 1/1 | 1/1 | 1/1 |
| Initial (聲) | 影 (34) | 疑 (31) | 以 (36) | 幫 (1) | 章 (23) |
| Final (韻) | 質 (48) | 元 (65) | 之 (19) | 祭 (35) | 之 (19) |
| Tone (調) | Checked (Ø) | Level (Ø) | Rising (X) | Departing (H) | Level (Ø) |
| Openness (開合) | Open | Open | Open | Open | Open |
| Division (等) | III | III | III | III | III |
| Fanqie | 於悉切 | 語軒切 | 羊己切 | 必袂切 | 止而切 |
| Baxter | 'jit | ngjon | yiX | pjiejH | tsyi |
| Reconstructions ||||||
| Zhengzhang Shangfang | /ʔiɪt̚/ | /ŋɨɐn/ | /jɨ$^X$/ | /piᴇi$^H$/ | /t͡ɕɨ/ |
| Pan Wuyun | /ʔit̚/ | /ŋiɐn/ | /jɨ$^X$/ | /piɛi$^H$/ | /t͡ɕɨ/ |
| Shao Rongfen | /ʔjet̚/ | /ŋiɐn/ | /ie$^X$/ | /pjæi$^H$/ | /t͡ɕie/ |
| Edwin Pulleyblank | /ʔit̚/ | /ŋɨan/ | /jɨ$^X$/ | /piaj$^H$/ | /cɨ/ |
| Li Rong | /ʔiĕt̚/ | /ŋiɐn/ | /iə$^X$/ | /piɛi$^H$/ | /t͡ɕiə/ |
| Wang Li | /ĭĕt̚/ | /ŋĭɐn/ | /jĭə$^X$/ | /pĭɛi$^H$/ | /t͡ɕĭə/ |
| Bernard Karlgren | /ʔi̯ĕt̚/ | /ŋɨ̯ɐn/ | /i$^X$/ | /pi̯ɛi$^H$/ | /t͡ɕi/ |
| Expected Mandarin Reflex | yi | yán | yǐ | bì | zhī |
| Expected Cantonese Reflex | jat$^1$ | jin$^4$ | ji$^5$ | bai$^3$ | zi$^1$ |
* Old Chinese
    (Baxter–Sagart): /*ʔi[t] ŋa[n] ləʔ pe[t]-s tə/
    (Zhengzhang): /*qliɡ ŋan lɯʔ peds tjɯ/
Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014) :
| Character | 一 | 言 | 以 | 蔽 | 之 |
| Reading # | 1/1 | 3/4 | 1/1 | 1/1 | 2/2 |
| Modern Beijing (Pinyin) | yī | yán | yǐ | bì | zhī |
| Middle Chinese | ‹ ʔjit › | ‹ ngjon › | ‹ yi$^X$ › | ‹ pjiej$^H$ › | ‹ tsyi › |
| Old Chinese | /*ʔi[t]/ | /*ŋa[n]/ | /*ləʔ/ | /*pe[t]-s/ | /*tə/ |
| English | one | speak; speech | take, use | cover (v.) | (3p object pronoun; attributive particle) |
| 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 | 一 | 言 | 以 | 蔽 | 之 |
| Reading # | 1/1 | 1/1 | 1/1 | 1/1 | 1/1 |
| No. | 14833 | 14271 | 14929 | 627 | 17188 |
| Phonetic component | 一 | 言 | 以 | 敝 | 之 |
| Rime group | 質 | 元 | 之 | 祭 | 之 |
| Rime subdivision | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Corresponding MC rime | 一 | 言 | 以 | 蔽 | 之 |
| Old Chinese | /*qliɡ/ | /*ŋan/ | /*lɯʔ/ | /*peds/ | /*tjɯ/ |

### Idiom

一言以蔽之
* to summarize in a word; in a nutshell

#### Synonyms

* 一言蔽之 (yīyánbìzhī)

#### Descendants

* → Japanese: 一言以って之を蔽う (ichigen motte kore o ōu) (calque)