吹箫乞食 in English chui1 xiao1 qi3 shi2 Meaning

Meanings

  • to beg while playing the xiao 簫|箫[xiao1] (mouth organ)
  • cf Wu Zixu 伍子胥[Wu3 Zi3 xu1], destitute refugee from Chu 楚[Chu3], busked in Wu town approximately 520 BC (Before Christ), then became a powerful politician

Simplified Characters

吹 箫 乞 食

Traditional Characters

吹 簫 乞 食

Pinyin

chui1 xiao1 qi3 shi2

Literal

Literal explanation, with pronunciation and meaning of each character.

吹chui1to blow 箫xiao1xiao, a Chinese musical instrument of ancient times, similar to panpipes 乞qi3to beg 食shi2to eat