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Etymology data from Wiktionary via Wiktextract (CC BY-SA 4.0). Chinese character data from the 說文解字, the Taiwan MOE 國語辭典簡編本 (CC BY-ND 3.0 TW) and HSK/TOCFL lists.

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Chinese

袖手旁觀

/ɕi̯oʊ̯⁵¹ ʂoʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹ pʰɑŋ³⁵ ku̯än⁵⁵/
to put one's hands into one's sleeves and look on; to observe and do nothing; to stand by; to become a passive observer
  • 袖手旁观
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The phrase describes a person standing by with hands tucked into their sleeves, watching an event without intervening.
The phrase describes a person standing by with hands tucked into their sleeves, watching an event without intervening.

Origin

The phrase comes from a funeral oration by Han Yu dedicated to his deceased friend Liu Zongyuan. It is composed of four characters: 袖 (sleeve), 手 (hand), 旁 (side; beside; close by), and 觀 (to observe; to watch; to view; to see).

In terms of character formation, 袖 contains the semantic component 衣 (garment; clothes; clothing) and the phonetic component 由 (cause; reason). The character 旁 uses the semantic component 同 (same; identical) and the phonetic component 方 (side; aspect; party). The character 觀 consists of the semantic component 見 (to see) and the phonetic component 雚 (the original form of 鸛/鹳). The component 見 is itself formed from 目 (eye) and 卩 (kneeling person).

Confidence: high · written by gemma4:26b, checked statement-by-statement against the sources below.

「袖手旁觀」源自韓愈為悼念好友柳宗元所寫的一篇祭文。這個成語由四個漢字組成：「袖」指袖子，由表示衣服的「衣」作為意義組成部分，並以「由」作為聲音組成部分；「手」指手；「旁」指旁邊，由「同」作為意義組成部分，並以「方」作為聲音組成部分；「觀」則指觀察、觀看，由「見」作為意義組成部分，並以「雚」作為聲音組成部分。

在字形的構成上，「見」字本身包含「目」與「卩」兩個組成部分。透過這些字元的組合，成語描繪出將手收於袖中、在旁邊觀望的動作，用以形容站在一旁觀看卻不採取任何行動的狀態。

Confidence: high · written by gemma4:26b, checked statement-by-statement against the sources below.

Lineage

  • characterChinese袖 “sleeve”
    • meaningChinese衣 “garment; clothes; clothing (Classifier: 件)”
    • soundChinese由 “cause; reason”
  • characterChinese手 “hand (Classifier: 隻／只 m c mn; 雙／双 m mn; 對／对 c)”
  • characterChinese旁 “side; beside; close by”
    • meaningChinese同 “same; identical”
    • soundChinese方 “side; aspect; party”
  • characterChinese觀 “to observe; to watch; to view; to see”
    • soundChinese雚 “original form of 鸛／鹳 (guàn, “stork; heron”)”
    • meaningChinese見 “to see”
      • componentChinese目 “eye (Classifier: 雙／双 mn-t)”
      • componentChinese卩 “kneeling person”
Wiktionary etymology text

From a funeral oration by Han Yu dedicated to his deceased friend Liu Zongyuan

From Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Meanings

phrase
  1. to put one's hands into one's sleeves and look on; to observe and do nothing; to stand by; to become a passive observer

國語辭典 definitions

  1. 把手放在袖子裡，在一旁觀看。比喻置身事外，不予過問。 例：朋友有急難，我們應當伸出援手，不可袖手旁觀。

© Ministry of Education, Taiwan — CC BY-ND 3.0 TW, shown unaltered.

Sources

  • etymagent (local gemma4:26b) — Generated
  • 教育部《國語辭典簡編本》 (Taiwan MOE) — CC BY-ND 3.0 TW
  • Written form — n/a
  • Wiktionary (via Wiktextract / kaikki.org) — CC BY-SA 4.0
  • Wiktionary: 袖手旁觀