| 君子之交 |
jūn zǐ zhī jiāo |
friendship between gentlemen, insipid as water (idiom, from Zhuangzi 庄子) |
| 君 |
jūn |
monarch / lord / gentleman / ruler |
| 君子 |
jūn zǐ |
nobleman / person of noble character |
| 子 |
zǐ |
son / child / seed / egg / small thing / 1st earthly branch: 11 p.m.–1 a.m., midnight, 11th solar month (7th December to 5th January), year of the rat / viscount, fourth of five orders of nobility 五等爵位 / ancient Chinese compass point: 0° (north) / subsidiary; subordinate; (prefix) sub- |
| 子 |
zi |
noun suffix, as in 椅子 "chair" |
| 之 |
zhī |
(possessive particle, literary equivalent of 的) / him / her / it |
| 交 |
jiāo |
to hand over; to deliver; to pay (money); to turn over / to make friends / (of lines) to intersect / variant of 跤 |