# 是故
## Chinese
### Pronunciation

* Mandarin
    (Pinyin): shìgù
    (Zhuyin): ㄕˋ ㄍㄨˋ
* Cantonese (Jyutping): si$^6$ gu$^3$
* Mandarin
** (Standard Chinese)
*** Hanyu Pinyin: shìgù
*** Zhuyin: ㄕˋ ㄍㄨˋ
*** Tongyong Pinyin: shìhgù
*** Wade–Giles: shih$^4$-ku$^4$
*** Yale: shr̀-gù
*** Gwoyeu Romatzyh: shyhguh
*** Palladius: шигу (šigu)
*** Sinological IPA : /ʂʐ̩⁵¹⁻⁵³ ku⁵¹/
*** Homophones: [Show/Hide]$^{edit}$世故 事故
* Cantonese
** (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
*** Jyutping: si$^6$ gu$^3$
*** Yale: sih gu
*** Cantonese Pinyin: si$^6$ gu$^3$
*** Guangdong Romanization: xi$^6$ gu$^3$
*** Sinological IPA : /siː²² kuː³³/
*** Homophones: $^{edit}$是故 事故
* Middle Chinese: dzyeX kuH
Rime :
| Character | 是 | 故 |
| Reading # | 1/1 | 1/1 |
| Initial (聲) | 常 (25) | 見 (28) |
| Final (韻) | 支 (11) | 模 (23) |
| Tone (調) | Rising (X) | Departing (H) |
| Openness (開合) | Open | Open |
| Division (等) | III | I |
| Fanqie | 承紙切 | 古暮切 |
| Baxter | dzyeX | kuH |
| Reconstructions |||
| Zhengzhang Shangfang | /d͡ʑiᴇ$^X$/ | /kuo$^H$/ |
| Pan Wuyun | /d͡ʑiɛ$^X$/ | /kuo$^H$/ |
| Shao Rongfen | /d͡ʑjɛ$^X$/ | /ko$^H$/ |
| Edwin Pulleyblank | /d͡ʑiə̆$^X$/ | /kɔ$^H$/ |
| Li Rong | /ʑie$^X$/ | /ko$^H$/ |
| Wang Li | /ʑǐe$^X$/ | /ku$^H$/ |
| Bernard Karlgren | /ʑie̯$^X$/ | /kuo$^H$/ |
| Expected Mandarin Reflex | shì | gù |
| Expected Cantonese Reflex | si$^6$ | gu$^3$ |
* Old Chinese
    (Baxter–Sagart): /*[d]eʔ kˤa(ʔ)-s/
    (Zhengzhang): /*djeʔ kaːs/
Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014) :
| Character | 是 | 故 |
| Reading # | 1/1 | 1/2 |
| Modern Beijing (Pinyin) | shì | gù |
| Middle Chinese | ‹ dzye$^X$ › | ‹ ku$^H$ › |
| Old Chinese | /*[d]eʔ/ | /*kˁa(ʔ)-s/ |
| English | this | fact; reason |
| 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 | 是 | 故 |
| Reading # | 1/1 | 1/1 |
| No. | 11645 | 4228 |
| Phonetic component | 是 | 古 |
| Rime group | 支 | 魚 |
| Rime subdivision | 0 | 0 |
| Corresponding MC rime | 是 | 顧 |
| Old Chinese | /*djeʔ/ | /*kaːs/ |
| Notes | 金文從早從止， 馬敘倫謂正加射的。按象對準目標行進， 表所行正確 | |

### Conjunction

是故
* (literary) because of this; thus; consequently
    From: The Analects of Confucius, c. 475 – 221 BCE, translated based on James Legge's version
    Yuē: “Fūzǐ hé shěn Yóu yě?” Yuē: “Wéi guó yǐ lǐ, qí yán bù ràng, shìgù shěn zhī.” [Pinyin]
    Xi pursued, "Master, why did you smile at You?" He was answered, "The management of a state demands the rules of propriety. His words were not humble; therefore I smiled at him."
    From: The Art of War, circa 5th century BCE, translated based on Lionel Giles's version
    Sūnzǐ yuē: fán yòngbīng zhī fǎ, quán guó wèi shàng, pò guó cì zhī; quán lǚ wèi shàng, pò lǚ cì zhī; quán zú wèi shàng, pò zú cì zhī; quán wǔ wèi shàng, pò wǔ cì zhī. Shìgù bǎizhànbǎishèng, fēi shàn zhī shàn zhě yě; bùzhàn'érqūrénzhībīng, shàn zhī shàn zhě yě. [Pinyin]
    Sunzi said: In the practical art of war, the best thing of all is to take the enemy's country whole and intact; to shatter and destroy it is not so good. So, too, it is better to recapture an army entire than to destroy it, to capture a regiment, a detachment or a company entire than to destroy them. Hence to fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting.

#### Synonyms

* 乃末 (Shanghainese)
* 以故 (yǐgù) (Classical Chinese)
* 以是 (yǐshì) (Classical Chinese)
* 因此 (yīncǐ)
* 因而 (yīn'ér)
* 從而／从而 (cóng'ér)
* 所以
* 故 (gù) (literary)
* 故此 (gùcǐ)
* 故而 (gù'ér)
* 於是／于是 (yúshì)
* 於是乎／于是乎 (yúshìhū) (literary)
* 是以 (shìyǐ) (literary)
* 此以 (cǐyǐ) (literary)
* 為此／为此 (wèicǐ)