# 尸位素餐
## Chinese

| | | to hold one's position like a corpse; to hold one's position without doing anything | to eat without working; to maintain a vegetarian diet |
| trad. (尸位素餐) | trad. (尸位素餐) | 尸位 | 素餐 |
| simp. $^#$(尸位素餐) | simp. $^#$(尸位素餐) | 尸位 | 素餐 |

### Etymology

    From: The Book of Han, circa 1st century CE
    Jīn cháotíng dàchén, shàng bù néng kuāngzhǔ, xià wú yǐ yìmín, jiē shīwèisùcān. [Pinyin]
    Now in the royal court, ministers who can't assist the emperor or benefit the people all hold their positions and live without doing anything.

### Pronunciation

* Mandarin
    (Pinyin): shīwèisùcān
    (Zhuyin): ㄕ ㄨㄟˋ ㄙㄨˋ ㄘㄢ
* Cantonese (Jyutping): si$^1$ wai$^6$ sou$^3$ caan$^1$
* Eastern Min (BUC): sĭ-ôi-só-chuăng
* Southern Min (Teochew, Peng'im): si$^1$ ui$^7$ su$^3$ cang$^1$
* Mandarin
** (Standard Chinese)
*** Hanyu Pinyin: shīwèisùcān
*** Zhuyin: ㄕ ㄨㄟˋ ㄙㄨˋ ㄘㄢ
*** Tongyong Pinyin: shihwèisùcan
*** Wade–Giles: shih$^1$-wei$^4$-su$^4$-tsʻan$^1$
*** Yale: shr̄-wèi-sù-tsān
*** Gwoyeu Romatzyh: shyweysuhtsan
*** Palladius: шивэйсуцань (šivɛjsucanʹ)
*** Sinological IPA : /ʂʐ̩⁵⁵ weɪ̯⁵¹⁻⁵³ su⁵¹ t͡sʰän⁵⁵/
* Cantonese
** (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
*** Jyutping: si$^1$ wai$^6$ sou$^3$ caan$^1$
*** Yale: sī waih sou chāan
*** Cantonese Pinyin: si$^1$ wai$^6$ sou$^3$ tsaan$^1$
*** Guangdong Romanization: xi$^1$ wei$^6$ sou$^3$ can$^1$
*** Sinological IPA : /siː⁵⁵ wɐi̯²² sou̯³³ t͡sʰaːn⁵⁵/
* Eastern Min
** (Fuzhou)
*** Bàng-uâ-cê: sĭ-ôi-só-chuăng
*** Sinological IPA : /si⁵⁵⁻⁵³ ui²⁴²⁽⁻²¹⁾ $^{(s-)}$lu²¹³⁻⁵⁵ $^{(t͡sʰ-)}$ʒuaŋ⁵⁵/
* Southern Min
** (Teochew)
*** Peng'im: si$^1$ ui$^7$ su$^3$ cang$^1$
*** Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: si ūi sù tshang
*** Sinological IPA : /si³³⁻²³ ui¹¹ su²¹³⁻⁵⁵ t͡sʰaŋ³³/
* Middle Chinese: syij hwijH suH tshan
Rime :
| Character | 尸 | 位 | 素 | 餐 |
| Reading # | 1/1 | 1/1 | 1/1 | 1/1 |
| Initial (聲) | 書 (26) | 云 (35) | 心 (16) | 清 (14) |
| Final (韻) | 脂 (15) | 脂 (18) | 模 (23) | 寒 (61) |
| Tone (調) | Level (Ø) | Departing (H) | Departing (H) | Level (Ø) |
| Openness (開合) | Open | Closed | Open | Open |
| Division (等) | III | III | I | I |
| Fanqie | 式之切 | 于愧切 | 桑故切 | 七安切 |
| Baxter | syij | hwijH | suH | tshan |
| Reconstructions |||||
| Zhengzhang Shangfang | /ɕiɪ/ | /ɦˠiuɪ$^H$/ | /suo$^H$/ | /t͡sʰɑn/ |
| Pan Wuyun | /ɕi/ | /ɦʷᵚi$^H$/ | /suo$^H$/ | /t͡sʰɑn/ |
| Shao Rongfen | /ɕjɪ/ | /ɣiuɪ$^H$/ | /so$^H$/ | /t͡sʰɑn/ |
| Edwin Pulleyblank | /ɕi/ | /ɦjwi$^H$/ | /sɔ$^H$/ | /t͡sʰan/ |
| Li Rong | /ɕi/ | /ɣjui$^H$/ | /so$^H$/ | /t͡sʰɑn/ |
| Wang Li | /ɕi/ | /ɣwi$^H$/ | /su$^H$/ | /t͡sʰɑn/ |
| Bernard Karlgren | /ɕi/ | /wi$^H$/ | /suo$^H$/ | /t͡sʰɑn/ |
| Expected Mandarin Reflex | shī | wèi | sù | cān |
| Expected Cantonese Reflex | si$^1$ | wai$^6$ | sou$^3$ | caan$^1$ |
* Old Chinese
    (Zhengzhang): /*hli ɢʷrɯbs saːs sʰaːn/
Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014) :
| Character | 尸 | 位 | 素 |
| Reading # | 1/1 | 1/1 | 1/1 |
| Modern Beijing (Pinyin) | shī | wèi | sù |
| Middle Chinese | ‹ syij › | ‹ hwij$^H$ › | ‹ su$^H$ › |
| Old Chinese | /*l̥̥[ə]j/ | /*[ɢ]ʷrəp-s/ (< *ɢʷəʔ-rəp-s ?) | /*[s]ˁak-s/ |
| English | corpse | standing, position | white silk |
| 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 | 尸 | 位 | 素 | 餐 |
| Reading # | 1/1 | 1/1 | 1/1 | 1/1 |
| No. | 11396 | 7865 | 12099 | 1117 |
| Phonetic component | 尸 | 立 | 素 | 粲 |
| Rime group | 脂 | 內 | 魚 | 元 |
| Rime subdivision | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Corresponding MC rime | | 位 | 訴 | 餐 |
| Old Chinese | /*hli/ | /*ɢʷrɯbs/ | /*saːs/ | /*sʰaːn/ |
| Notes | | | | 聲符皆爲歺又 |

### Idiom

尸位素餐
* (derogatory or humble) hold one's position and live without doing anything
    From: 2021 February 21, 《为官避事平生耻》 (text), in 《平“语”近人——习近平喜欢的典故》, season 2, episode 4, CCTV-1, spoken by Meng Man, 5:59 from the start
    Wèishénme Yuán Hàowèn yào shuō “dāngguān bìshì píngshēng chǐ”? Xí zǒngshūjì wèishénme yòu yào shuō “wéi guān bìshì píngshēng chǐ” ne? Yīnwèi zài wǒmen zhōngguórén kànlái a, zài qí wèi jiù děi móu qí zhèng, yīge rén yàoshì shīwèisùcān dehuà, běnshēn jiùshì wéi rén bùchǐ de yī jiàn shì. [Pinyin]
    (please add an English translation of this usage example)

#### Synonyms

* 尸素 (shīsù) (short form)
* 素餐尸位
* 尸祿素餐 (shīlùsùcān)
* 尸祿素食
* 尸利素餐 (shīlìsùcān)
* 飽食終日／饱食终日 (bǎoshízhōngrì)

#### Descendants

* → Japanese: 尸(し)位(い)素(そ)餐(さん) (shīsosan)