# 螳螂捕蟬，黃雀在後
## Chinese

| | | praying mantis | to catch; to seize; to capture | cicada | | Eurasian siskin | (located) at; in; exist(located) at; in; exist; (before verbs) immediately involved in; right in the middle of doing | back; behind; rearback; behind; rear; afterwards; after; later |
| trad. (螳螂捕蟬，黃雀在後) | trad. (螳螂捕蟬，黃雀在後) | 螳螂 | 捕 | 蟬 | ， | 黃雀 | 在 | 後 |
| simp. (螳螂捕蝉，黄雀在后) | simp. (螳螂捕蝉，黄雀在后) | 螳螂 | 捕 | 蝉 | ， | 黄雀 | 在 | 后 |
| Literally: “the mantis catches the cicada, unaware of the siskin behind”. |||||||||

### Etymology

    From: Shuoyuan, circa 1st century BCE
    Wú wáng yù fá jīng, gào qí zuǒyòu yuē: “Gǎn yǒu jiàn zhě sǐ!” Shè rén yǒu shào rúzǐ yù jiàn bùgǎn, zé huái wán cāo dàn, yóu yú hòu yuán, lù zhān qí yī, rú shì zhě zài sān. Wú wáng yuē: “Zǐ lái, hé kǔ zhān yī rúcǐ!”, Duì yuē: “Yuán zhōng yǒu shù, qí shàng yǒu chán, chán gāo jū bēimíng, yǐn lù, bùzhī tángláng zài qí hòu yě; tángláng wěi shēn qū fù, yù qǔ chán, bùzhī huángquè zài qí páng yě; huángquè yán jǐng, yù zhuó tángláng, ér bùzhī dàn wán zài qí xià yě. Cǐ sān zhě jiē wù yù dé qí qián lì, ér bùgù qí hòu zhī yǒu huàn yě.” Wú wáng yuē: “Shàn zāi!” Nǎi bà qí bīng. [Pinyin]
    The king of Wu wanted to subdue the Chu state, and told the ministers: "whoever dares to remonstrate dies!" A young man wished to remonstrate with the king but did not dare. He had hidden a projectile in his bosom with a slingshot in hand, and when wandering in the backyard, the dew wet his clothes for a few days like this. The king of Wu asked “how did you wet your clothes hard like this?" The young man replied: "there is a tree in the garden with a cicada on the tree. The cicada was standing at a high place wailing and drinking dew, ignorant of a praying mantis behind it; the praying mantis curled up close to the branch, bent its forelimbs, attempting to grab the cicada, ignorant of a siskin next to it; the siskin extended its neck to peck the mantis, ignorant of the slingshot and projectile underneath it. All three of them chased after their immediate benefits without considering the hidden dangers behind them." The king of Wu said "good!”, thus suspending his plan of conquest.

### Pronunciation

* Mandarin
    (Pinyin): tángláng bǔ chán, huángquè zài hòu
    (Zhuyin): ㄊㄤˊ ㄌㄤˊ ㄅㄨˇ ㄔㄢˊ , ㄏㄨㄤˊ ㄑㄩㄝˋ ㄗㄞˋ ㄏㄡˋ
* Cantonese (Jyutping): tong$^4$ long$^4$ bou$^6$ sim$^4$, wong$^4$ zoek$^3$ zoi$^6$ hau$^6$
* Mandarin
** (Standard Chinese)
*** Hanyu Pinyin: tángláng bǔ chán, huángquè zài hòu
*** Zhuyin: ㄊㄤˊ ㄌㄤˊ ㄅㄨˇ ㄔㄢˊ , ㄏㄨㄤˊ ㄑㄩㄝˋ ㄗㄞˋ ㄏㄡˋ
*** Tongyong Pinyin: tángláng bǔ chán, huángcyuè zài hòu
*** Wade–Giles: tʻang$^2$-lang$^2$ pu$^3$ chʻan$^2$, huang$^2$-chʻüeh$^4$ tsai$^4$ hou$^4$
*** Yale: táng-láng bǔ chán-, hwáng-chywè dzài hòu
*** Gwoyeu Romatzyh: tarnglang buu charn, hwangchiueh tzay how
*** Palladius: танлан бу чань, хуанцюэ цзай хоу (tanlan bu čanʹ, xuancjue czaj xou)
*** Sinological IPA : /tʰɑŋ³⁵ lɑŋ³⁵ pu²¹⁴⁻²¹ ʈ͡ʂʰän³⁵ xu̯ɑŋ³⁵ t͡ɕʰy̯ɛ⁵¹⁻⁵³ t͡saɪ̯⁵¹⁻⁵³ xoʊ̯⁵¹/
* Cantonese
** (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
*** Jyutping: tong$^4$ long$^4$ bou$^6$ sim$^4$, wong$^4$ zoek$^3$ zoi$^6$ hau$^6$
*** Yale: tòhng lòhng bouh sìhm, wòhng jeuk joih hauh
*** Cantonese Pinyin: tong$^4$ long$^4$ bou$^6$ sim$^4$, wong$^4$ dzoek$^8$ dzoi$^6$ hau$^6$
*** Guangdong Romanization: tong$^4$ long$^4$ bou$^6$ xim$^4$, wong$^4$ zêg$^3$ zoi$^6$ heo$^6$
*** Sinological IPA : /tʰɔːŋ²¹ lɔːŋ²¹ pou̯²² siːm²¹ wɔːŋ²¹ t͡sœːk̚³ t͡sɔːi̯²² hɐu̯²²/

### Idiom

螳螂捕蟬，黃雀在後
* to pursue a narrow gain while neglecting a greater danger