不食人間煙火

See also: 不食人间烟火

Chinese

		not; no	eat; food; to feed eat; food; to feed; animal feed	the human world; the world of mortals	smoke and fire; cooked food
trad. (不食人間煙火)		不	食	人間	煙火
simp. (不食人间烟火)		不	食	人间	烟火
Literally: “not eat anything cooked by people”.

Etymology

According to folklore, the daoists believed that celestial beings (仙人) never ate cooked food. Later on, this phrase was used to describe a person who has other-worldly qualities similar to that of celestial beings.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): bù shí rénjiān yānhuǒ

  (Zhuyin): ㄅㄨˋ ㄕˊ ㄖㄣˊ ㄐㄧㄢ ㄧㄢ ㄏㄨㄛˇ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): bat¹ sik⁶ jan⁴ gan¹ jin¹ fo²

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: bù shí rénjiān yānhuǒ
    • Zhuyin: ㄅㄨˋ ㄕˊ ㄖㄣˊ ㄐㄧㄢ ㄧㄢ ㄏㄨㄛˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: bù shíh rénjian yanhuǒ
    • Wade–Giles: pu⁴ shih² jên²-chien¹ yen¹-huo³
    • Yale: bù shŕ rén-jyān yān-hwǒ
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: bu shyr renjian ianhuoo
    • Palladius: бу ши жэньцзянь яньхо (bu ši žɛnʹczjanʹ janʹxo)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /pu⁵¹ ʂʐ̩³⁵ ʐən³⁵ t͡ɕi̯ɛn⁵⁵ jɛn⁵⁵ xu̯ɔ²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: bat¹ sik⁶ jan⁴ gan¹ jin¹ fo²
    • Yale: bāt sihk yàhn gān yīn fó
    • Cantonese Pinyin: bat⁷ sik⁹ jan⁴ gan¹ jin¹ fo²
    • Guangdong Romanization: bed¹ xig⁶ yen⁴ gen¹ yin¹ fo²
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /pɐt̚⁵ sɪk̚² jɐn²¹ kɐn⁵⁵ jiːn⁵⁵ fɔː³⁵/

Idiom

不食人間煙火

1. out of touch; no sense of the practical

   這一群不食人間煙火的人，根本不知道別人的實際痛苦！ [MSC, trad.]
   这一群不食人间烟火的人，根本不知道别人的实际痛苦！ [MSC, simp.]

   Zhè yī qún bùshírénjiānyānhuǒ de rén, gēnběn bù zhīdào biérén de shíjì tòngkǔ! [Pinyin]

   These people who are out of touch with reality just don't understand the real suffering of others!

2. other-worldly

   • 可惜，這是個真實的世界，真實的世界裡有普通人，有擁擠和喧囂，有辛酸及無奈，唯獨沒有童話般的不食人間煙火的愛情。 [MSC, trad.]
     可惜，这是个真实的世界，真实的世界里有普通人，有拥挤和喧嚣，有辛酸及无奈，唯独没有童话般的不食人间烟火的爱情。 [MSC, simp.]

     From: 2005: 张雁 ed. (Zhang Yan), 没什么爱是不食人间烟火 (There's no such thing as other-worldly romantic love)

     Kěxī, zhè shì ge zhēnshí de shìjiè, zhēnshí de shìjiè lǐ yǒu pǔtōng rén, yǒu yōngjǐ hé xuānxiāo, yǒu xīnsuān jí wúnài, wéi dú méiyǒu tónghuà bān de bùshírénjiānyānhuǒ de àiqíng. [Pinyin]

     Unfortunately, this is the real world; the real world that contains normal people. The real world is crowded and noisy, and is filled with bitterness and compromise. Only there's no such thing as the other-worldly romantic love that you read about in fairy-tales.

3. to not eat anything