| 人在江湖，身不由己 |
rén zài jiāng hú , shēn bù yóu jǐ |
(proverb) you can't always do as you like; one has to compromise in this world |
| 人 |
rén |
person; people / CL:个,位 |
| 在 |
zài |
to exist; to be alive / (of sb or sth) to be (located) at / (used before a verb to indicate an action in progress) |
| 江 |
Jiāng |
surname Jiang / (bound form) Yangtze River / (bound form) Jiangsu Province (abbr. for 江苏) |
| 江 |
jiāng |
river / CL:条,道 |
| 江湖 |
jiāng hú |
rivers and lakes / all corners of the country; remote areas to which hermits retreat / section of society operating independently of mainstream society, out of reach of the law; the milieu in which wuxia tales play out (cf. 武侠) / (in late imperial times) world of traveling merchants, itinerant doctors, fortune tellers etc; demimonde / (in modern times) triads; secret gangster societies; underworld |
| 湖 |
hú |
lake |
| 身 |
shēn |
body / life / oneself / personally / one's morality and conduct / the main part of a structure or body / pregnant / classifier for sets of clothes: suit, twinset / Kangxi radical 158 |
| 身不由己 |
shēn bù yóu jǐ |
(idiom) (of one's circumstances) beyond one's control; unable to do anything about it; (of one's actions) not subject to conscious control (i.e. done in spite of oneself) |
| 不 |
bù |
no; not so / (bound form) not; un- |
| 不由 |
bù yóu |
can't help (doing sth) |
| 由 |
yóu |
to follow / from / because of; due to / by; via; through / (before a noun and a verb) it is for ... to ... |
| 己 |
jǐ |
self / oneself / sixth of the ten Heavenly Stems 十天干 / sixth in order / letter "F" or Roman "VI" in list "A, B, C", or "I, II, III" etc / hexa |