# 不得其門而入
## Chinese

| | | must not; should not; not be allowedmust not; should not; not be allowed; to not receive | his; her; itshis; her; its; theirs; that; such; it (refers to something preceding it) | opening; door; gateopening; door; gate; doorway; gateway; valve; switch; way to do something; knack; family; house; (religious) sect; school (of thought); class; category; (taxonomy) phylum or division | and; as well as; but (not)and; as well as; but (not); yet (not); (shows causal relation); (shows change of state); (shows contrast) | to enter |
| trad. (不得其門而入) | trad. (不得其門而入) | 不得 | 其 | 門 | 而 | 入 |
| simp. (不得其门而入) | simp. (不得其门而入) | 不得 | 其 | 门 | 而 | 入 |

### Etymology

From the Analects, Book 19 (《論語·子張》):
    叔孫武叔語大夫於朝，曰：「子貢賢於仲尼。」子服景伯以告子貢。子貢曰：「譬之宮牆，賜之牆也及肩，窺見室家之好。夫子之牆數仞，不得其門而入，不見宗廟之美，百官之富。得其門者或寡矣。夫子之云，不亦宜乎！」 [Classical Chinese, trad.]叔孙武叔语大夫于朝，曰：「子贡贤于仲尼。」子服景伯以告子贡。子贡曰：「譬之宫墙，赐之墙也及肩，窥见室家之好。夫子之墙数仞，不得其门而入，不见宗庙之美，百官之富。得其门者或寡矣。夫子之云，不亦宜乎！」 [Classical Chinese, simp.]From: The Analects of Confucius, c. 475 – 221 BCE, Wiktionary translationShūsūn Wǔ Shū yù dàfū yú cháo, yuē: “Zǐgòng xián yú Zhòngní.” Zǐfú Jǐng Bó yǐ gào Zǐgòng. Zǐgòng yuē: “Pì zhī gōng qiáng, cì zhī qiáng yě jí jiān, kuījiàn shìjiā zhī hǎo. Fūzǐ zhī qiáng shù rèn, bù dé qí mén ér rù, bù jiàn zōngmiào zhī měi, bǎiguān zhī fù. Dé qí mén zhě huò guǎ yǐ. Fūzǐ zhī yún, bù yì yí hū!” [Pinyin](The high official) Shusun Wu Shu (叔孫武叔) remarked to the other officials at court, "Zigong surpasses his master (Confucius) in ability." Zifu Jing Bo (子服景伯) reported this to Zigong. Zigong said, "I will use the analogy of a wall; the wall that I have built comes up to my shoulders. One can get a glimpse of the beauty inside my house. My master's wall is very high; if you are unable to enter through the gate, you will not behold the beauty of the ancestral temple or the splendor of all the officers inside. I suspect that few people are able to enter through the gate. Are not then Shusun Wu Shu's words reasonable?"

### Pronunciation

* Mandarin
    (Pinyin): bùdé qí mén ér rù
    (Zhuyin): ㄅㄨˋ ㄉㄜˊ ㄑㄧˊ ㄇㄣˊ ㄦˊ ㄖㄨˋ
* Cantonese (Jyutping): bat$^1$ dak$^1$ kei$^4$ mun$^4$ ji$^4$ jap$^6$
* Mandarin
** (Standard Chinese)
*** Hanyu Pinyin: bùdé qí mén ér rù
*** Zhuyin: ㄅㄨˋ ㄉㄜˊ ㄑㄧˊ ㄇㄣˊ ㄦˊ ㄖㄨˋ
*** Tongyong Pinyin: bùdé cí mén ér rù
*** Wade–Giles: pu$^4$-tê$^2$ chʻi$^2$ mên$^2$ êrh$^2$ ju$^4$
*** Yale: bù-dé chí mén ér rù
*** Gwoyeu Romatzyh: buder chyi men erl ruh
*** Palladius: будэ ци мэнь эр жу (budɛ ci mɛnʹ er žu)
*** Sinological IPA : /pu⁵¹ tɤ³⁵ t͡ɕʰi³⁵ mən³⁵ ˀɤɻ³⁵ ʐu⁵¹/
* Cantonese
** (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
*** Jyutping: bat$^1$ dak$^1$ kei$^4$ mun$^4$ ji$^4$ jap$^6$
*** Yale: bāt dāk kèih mùhn yìh yahp
*** Cantonese Pinyin: bat$^7$ dak$^7$ kei$^4$ mun$^4$ ji$^4$ jap$^9$
*** Guangdong Romanization: bed$^1$ deg$^1$ kéi$^4$ mun$^4$ yi$^4$ yeb$^6$
*** Sinological IPA : /pɐt̚⁵ tɐk̚⁵ kʰei̯²¹ muːn²¹ jiː²¹ jɐp̚²/

### Idiom

不得其門而入
* to not have an "in"; to be unable to crack into (a market); to try to find an in without any success; to be unable to gain entrance
** 2005: Design News China editorial staff, 争议英特尔称AMD旧技术援华 (Dispute ... Intel claims that old AMD technology is helping China)
    在經歷了多年的不得其門而入後，中國終於在2005年10月24日正式成為“X86體系俱樂部”的正式成員。On 24 October 2005, after having spent many years of trying to find an "in" without any success, China finally became a formal member of the "X86 architecture club."
** undated: China National Cotton editorial staff 中国企业信息化道路 (Information Super Highway for Chinese Industries)
    因此，若你所安裝或開放的功能、網路服務與通訊連接埠越少，駭客就越不得其門而入。
       Because of this, the fewer capabilities/network services and communications connection ports that you install or open, the more that hackers will be unable to gain entrance (to your system).