三从四德
sān cóng sì dé
Pinyin

Definition

三从四德
 - 
sān cóng sì dé
  1. Confucian moral injunctions for women, namely: obey in turn three men father, husband and son, plus the four virtues of morality 德, physical charm 容, propriety in speech 言 and efficiency in needlework 功

Character Decomposition

Related Words (20)

三
Sān
  1. 1 surname San
四
sì
  1. 1 four
  2. 2 4
三亚
Sān yà
  1. 1 Sanya prefecture level city, Hainan
三八
sān bā
  1. 1 International Women's Day 婦女節|妇女节[Fù nu:3 jié], 8th March
  2. 2 foolish
  3. 3 stupid
三分之一
sān fēn zhī yī
  1. 1 one third
三十
sān shí
  1. 1 thirty
  2. 2 30
三十六计
sān shí liù jì
  1. 1 The Thirty-Six Stratagems, a Chinese essay used to illustrate a series of stratagems used in politics, war, and in civil interaction
  2. 2 all the possible schemes and stratagems
三岔口
Sān chà kǒu
  1. 1 At the Crossroads, famous opera, based on a story from 水滸傳|水浒传[Shuǐ hǔ Zhuàn]
三峡
Sān xiá
  1. 1 Three Gorges on the Chang Jiang or Yangtze, namely: Qutang Gorge 瞿塘峽|瞿塘峡[Qú táng Xiá], Wuxia Gorge 巫峽|巫峡[Wū Xiá] and Xiling Gorge 西陵峽|西陵峡[Xī líng Xiá]
  2. 2 Sanxia or Sanhsia town in New Taipei City 新北市[Xīn běi shì], Taiwan
三文鱼
sān wén yú
  1. 1 salmon (loanword)
三明治
sān míng zhì
  1. 1 sandwich (loanword)
  2. 2 CL:個|个[gè]
三星
Sān xīng
  1. 1 Sanxing or Sanhsing township in Yilan county 宜蘭縣|宜兰县[Yí lán xiàn], Taiwan
  2. 2 Samsung (South Korean electronics company)
三更半夜
sān gēng bàn yè
  1. 1 in the depth of the night
  2. 2 very late at night
三月
Sān yuè
  1. 1 March
  2. 2 third month (of the lunar year)
三生有幸
sān shēng yǒu xìng
  1. 1 the blessing of three lifetimes (idiom)
  2. 2 (courteous language) it's my good fortune...
三角
sān jiǎo
  1. 1 triangle
三角洲
sān jiǎo zhōu
  1. 1 delta (geography)
三轮车
sān lún chē
  1. 1 pedicab
  2. 2 tricycle
三里屯
Sān lǐ tún
  1. 1 Sanlitun (Beijing street name)
初三
chū sān
  1. 1 third year in junior middle school

Idioms (20)

一倡三叹
yī chàng sān tàn
  1. 1 (of literature, music) deeply moving (idiom)
一哭二闹三上吊
yī kū èr nào sān shàng diào
  1. 1 to make a terrible scene (idiom)
  2. 2 to throw a tantrum
一问三不知
yī wèn sān bù zhī
  1. 1 lit. to reply "don't know" whatever the question (idiom)
  2. 2 fig. absolutely no idea of what's going on
  3. 3 complete ignorance
一心一德
yī xīn yī dé
  1. 1 of one heart and one mind (idiom)
一日三秋
yī rì sān qiū
  1. 1 a single day apart seems like three seasons (idiom)
一日不见，如隔三秋
yī rì bù jiàn , rú gé sān qiū
  1. 1 one day apart seems like three years (idiom)
一板三眼
yī bǎn sān yǎn
  1. 1 lit. one strong beat and three weak beats in a measure of music (four beats in the bar) (idiom); fig. scrupulous attention to detail
三七二十一
sān qī èr shí yī
  1. 1 three sevens are twenty-one (idiom)
  2. 2 the facts of the matter
  3. 3 the actual situation
三下两下
sān xià liǎng xià
  1. 1 quickly and effortlessly (idiom)
三五成群
sān wǔ chéng qún
  1. 1 in groups of three or four (idiom)
三人成虎
sān rén chéng hǔ
  1. 1 three men talking makes a tiger (idiom); repeated rumor becomes a fact
三人行，必有我师
sān rén xíng , bì yǒu wǒ shī
  1. 1 lit. if three walk together, one can be my teacher (idiom, from the Analects of Confucius)
  2. 2 you have sth to learn from everyone
三令五申
sān lìng wǔ shēn
  1. 1 to order again and again (idiom)
三个和尚没水喝
sān gè hé shang méi shuǐ hē
  1. 1 lit. three monks have no water to drink (idiom)
  2. 2 fig. everybody's business is nobody's business
  3. 3 (If there is one monk, he will fetch water for himself. If there are two, they will fetch water together. But if there are three or more, none will take it upon himself to fetch water.)
三个女人一台戏
sān ge nu:3 rén yī tái xì
  1. 1 three women are enough for a drama (idiom)
三个臭皮匠，合成一个诸葛亮
sān gè chòu pí jiang , hé chéng yī gè Zhū gě Liàng
  1. 1 lit. three ignorant cobblers add up to a genius (idiom); fig. collective wisdom
三个臭皮匠，赛过一个诸葛亮
sān gè chòu pí jiang , sài guò yī gè Zhū gě Liàng
  1. 1 lit. three ignorant cobblers add up to a genius (idiom); fig. collective wisdom
  2. 2 wisdom of the masses exceeds that of any individual
三个臭皮匠，赛过诸葛亮
sān gè chòu pí jiang , sài guò Zhū gě Liàng
  1. 1 lit. three ignorant cobblers add up to a genius (idiom); fig. collective wisdom
  2. 2 wisdom of the masses exceeds that of any individual
三个臭皮匠，顶个诸葛亮
sān gè chòu pí jiang , dǐng gè Zhū gě Liàng
  1. 1 lit. three ignorant cobblers add up to a genius (idiom); fig. collective wisdom
  2. 2 wisdom of the masses exceeds that of any individual
三十而立
sān shí ér lì
  1. 1 thirty years old and therefore independent (idiom, from Confucius)

Sample Sentences

是啊，古代女子就是“三从四德”，结婚生子就是她们人生的全部意义，而且，很晚嫁不出去的，剩女，是会让家人丢脸的。
shì a ，gǔdài nǚzǐ jiùshì “sāncóngsìdé ”，jiéhūn shēng zǐ jiùshì tāmen rénshēng de quánbù yìyì ，érqiě ，hěn wǎn jià bù chūqù de ，shèngnǚ ，shì huì ràng jiārén diū liǎn de 。
Yes, women in ancient times had to conform to the three Confucian moral injunctions － obey your father, obey your husband and obey your son － and the four virtues － morality, physical charm, propriety in speech and efficiency in needlework. Marrying and giving birth to a son was the sole meaning of their lives, and the "leftover women" who married very late, were an embarrassment to their families.
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说起来 古代 女子 的 命运 还 真 惨！好在 随着 社会 的 发展，现代 女性 的 地位 已经 发生 了 巨大 的 变化，男女 之间 已经 变得 更为 平等。不过，现在 倒是 流传 着 一种“新 三从四德”的 说法，你 听说过 吗？
shuō qǐlai gǔdài nǚzǐ de hái zhēn cǎn ！hǎozài suízhe shèhuì de fāzhǎn ，xiàndài nǚxìng de dìwèi yǐjīng fāshēng le jùdà de biànhuà ，nánnǚ zhījiān yǐjīng biànde gèngwéi píngděng 。bùguò ，xiànzài dàoshì liúchuán zhe yī zhǒng “xīn sāncóngsìdé ”de shuōfa ，nǐ ma ？
Come to think of it, women's fate was really terrible in ancient times. The good news is that as society developed, the status of modern women has already changed in a major way. Men and women have become more equal. But recently, a new phrase has become popular: ''The new three submissions and four virtues." Have you heard of it?
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