殺人如麻

Chinese

		to kill someone; to murder	as (if); such as	(to have) pins and needles; tingling; hemp (to have) pins and needles; tingling; hemp; numb; to bother
trad. (殺人如麻)		殺人	如	麻
simp. (杀人如麻)		杀人	如	麻
Literally: “to massacre people like mowing down hemp”.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): shārénrúmá

  (Zhuyin): ㄕㄚ ㄖㄣˊ ㄖㄨˊ ㄇㄚˊ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): saat³ jan⁴ jyu⁴ maa⁴

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: shārénrúmá
    • Zhuyin: ㄕㄚ ㄖㄣˊ ㄖㄨˊ ㄇㄚˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: sharénrúmá
    • Wade–Giles: sha¹-jên²-ju²-ma²
    • Yale: shā-rén-rú-má
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: sharenruma
    • Palladius: шажэньжума (šažɛnʹžuma)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ʂä⁵⁵ ʐən³⁵ ʐu³⁵ mä³⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: saat³ jan⁴ jyu⁴ maa⁴
    • Yale: saat yàhn yùh màh
    • Cantonese Pinyin: saat⁸ jan⁴ jy⁴ maa⁴
    • Guangdong Romanization: sad³ yen⁴ yu⁴ ma⁴
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /saːt̚³ jɐn²¹ jyː²¹ maː²¹/

---

• Middle Chinese: sreat nyin nyo mae

Rime
Character	殺	人	如	麻
Reading #	2/2	1/1	1/2	1/1
Initial (聲)	生 (21)	日 (38)	日 (38)	明 (4)
Final (韻)	鎋 (75)	眞 (43)	魚 (22)	麻 (98)
Tone (調)	Checked (Ø)	Level (Ø)	Level (Ø)	Level (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Open	Open	Open	Open
Division (等)	II	III	III	II
Fanqie	所八切	如鄰切	人諸切	莫霞切
Baxter	sreat	nyin	nyo	mae
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/ʃˠɛt̚/	/ȵiɪn/	/ȵɨʌ/	/mˠa/
Pan Wuyun	/ʃᵚæt̚/	/ȵin/	/ȵiɔ/	/mᵚa/
Shao Rongfen	/ʃæt̚/	/ȵʑjen/	/ȵʑiɔ/	/ma/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/ʂəɨt̚/	/ȵin/	/ȵɨə̆/	/maɨ/
Li Rong	/ʃɛt̚/	/ȵiĕn/	/ȵiɔ/	/ma/
Wang Li	/ʃæt̚/	/ȵʑĭĕn/	/ȵʑĭo/	/ma/
Bernhard Karlgren	/ʂat̚/	/ȵʑi̯ĕn/	/ȵʑi̯wo/	/ma/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	sha	rén	rú	má
Expected Cantonese Reflex	saat3	jan4	jyu4	maa4

Idiom

殺人如麻

1. to have killed countless people; to have committed countless murders

   • 朝避猛虎，夕避長蛇。磨牙吮血，殺人如麻。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     朝避猛虎，夕避长蛇。磨牙吮血，杀人如麻。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: c. early 8th century, Li Bai (李白), 《蜀道難》. Translated into the English as The Steep Road to Shuh by Shigeyoshi Obata (小畑薫良), 1922.

     Zhāo bì měnghǔ, xī bì chángshé. Móyá shǔnxuè, shārén rúmá. [Pinyin]

     Fleeing at morn before the savage tigers,
     Fleeing at eve before the huge serpents,
     Men are killed and cut up like hemp,
     While the beasts whet their fangs and lick the blood.