雜亂無章

See also: 杂乱无章

Chinese

		jumbled up; in a state of disarray; disorderly	not have	chapter; seal; section
trad. (雜亂無章)		雜亂	無	章
simp. (杂乱无章)		杂乱	无	章

Etymology

From a famous prose by Han Yu:

就其善鳴者，其聲清以浮，其節數以急，其詞淫以哀，其志弛以肆，其為言也，亂雜而無章。 [Literary Chinese, trad.]

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就其善鸣者，其声清以浮，其节数以急，其词淫以哀，其志弛以肆，其为言也，乱杂而无章。 [Literary Chinese, simp.]

From: c. 802, 韓愈 (“Han Yu”),《送孟東野序》, translated by Charles Hartman

Jiù qí shàn míng zhě, qí shēng qīng yǐ fú, qí jié shuò yǐ jí, qí cí yín yǐ āi, qí zhì chí yǐ sì, qí wéi yán yě, luànzá ér wúzhāng. [Pinyin]

Of those who did sing well, their tone was serene and light, their rhythms over-measured and strict, their diction fulsome and sentimental, their purpose loose and unfocused. Their language was confused and unstructured.

Where 章 (zhāng) referred to 章法 (zhāngfǎ, “structure of composition”). Nonetheless, nowadays the word is not restricted to describing writings anymore and can be applied to anything in chaos.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): záluàn wú zhāng

  (Zhuyin): ㄗㄚˊ ㄌㄨㄢˋ ㄨˊ ㄓㄤ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): zaap⁶ lyun⁶ mou⁴ zoeng¹

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: záluàn wú zhāng
    • Zhuyin: ㄗㄚˊ ㄌㄨㄢˋ ㄨˊ ㄓㄤ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: záluàn wú jhang
    • Wade–Giles: tsa²-luan⁴ wu² chang¹
    • Yale: dzá-lwàn wú jāng
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: tzarluann wu jang
    • Palladius: цзалуань у чжан (czaluanʹ u čžan)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡sä³⁵ lu̯än⁵¹ u³⁵ ʈ͡ʂɑŋ⁵⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: zaap⁶ lyun⁶ mou⁴ zoeng¹
    • Yale: jaahp lyuhn mòuh jēung
    • Cantonese Pinyin: dzaap⁹ lyn⁶ mou⁴ dzoeng¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: zab⁶ lün⁶ mou⁴ zêng¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡saːp̚² lyːn²² mou̯²¹ t͡sœːŋ⁵⁵/

Idiom

雜亂無章

1. disorderly and chaotic