跋前疐後

Chinese

	travel; walk	front, forepart; in front; past front, forepart; in front; past; former; previous; last; before; preceding; earlier; ago; future; time ahead; first; top; battlefront; to move forward	prostrate	back; behind; rear back; behind; rear; afterwards; after; later
trad. (跋前疐後)	跋	前	疐	後
simp. (跋前疐后)	跋	前	疐	后
alternative forms	跋前躓後／跋前踬后

Etymology

Originally from the Classic of Poetry (《詩》), 《豳風·狼跋》:

狼跋其胡，載疐其尾。 [Pre-Classical Chinese, trad.]

狼跋其胡，载疐其尾。 [Pre-Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: The Classic of Poetry, c. 11^th – 7^th centuries BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

Láng bá qí hú, zǎi zhì qí wěi. [Pinyin]

The wolf springs forward on his dewlap,
Or trips back on his tail.

Han Yu wrote in the 9th century:

然而公不見信於人，私不見助於友，跋前疐後，動輒得咎。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]

然而公不见信于人，私不见助于友，跋前疐后，动辄得咎。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: c. 813, Han Yu, "On Encouraging Scholarship" (《進學解》)

Rán'ér gōng bù jiàn xìn yú rén, sī bù jiàn zhù yú yǒu, báqiánzhìhòu, dòngzhé dé jiù. [Pinyin]

Yet you, in public affairs, fail to gain the trust of others. In private, none of your friends are willing to help you. You go forward and step on your dewlap, and step back only to trip on your tail. As soon as you move at all, you incur fault upon yourself.

Pronunciation

Mandarin
(Pinyin): báqiánzhìhòu

(Zhuyin): ㄅㄚˊ ㄑㄧㄢˊ ㄓˋ ㄏㄡˋ
Cantonese (Jyutping): bat⁶ cin⁴ zi³ hau⁶

Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)⁺
  - Hanyu Pinyin: báqiánzhìhòu
  - Zhuyin: ㄅㄚˊ ㄑㄧㄢˊ ㄓˋ ㄏㄡˋ
  - Tongyong Pinyin: báciánjhìhhòu
  - Wade–Giles: pa²-chʻien²-chih⁴-hou⁴
  - Yale: bá-chyán-jr̀-hòu
  - Gwoyeu Romatzyh: barchyanjyhhow
  - Palladius: бацяньчжихоу (bacjanʹčžixou)
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /pä³⁵ t͡ɕʰi̯ɛn³⁵ ʈ͡ʂʐ̩⁵¹⁻⁵³ xoʊ̯⁵¹/
Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
  - Jyutping: bat⁶ cin⁴ zi³ hau⁶
  - Yale: baht chìhn ji hauh
  - Cantonese Pinyin: bat⁹ tsin⁴ dzi³ hau⁶
  - Guangdong Romanization: bed⁶ qin⁴ ji³ heo⁶
  - Sinological IPA ^(key): /pɐt̚² t͡sʰiːn²¹ t͡siː³³ hɐu̯²²/

Idiom

跋前疐後

to encounter obstacles ahead and behind; to be beset with difficulties; to be surrounded by problems
他正處於跋前疐後的尷尬局面。 [MSC, trad.]
他正处于跋前疐后的尴尬局面。 [MSC, simp.]
Tā zhèng chǔyú báqiánzhìhòu de gāngà júmiàn. [Pinyin]
He is in a difficult dilemma.