铁打的衙门，流水的官 in English tie3 da3 de5 ya2 men5 , liu2 shui3 de5 guan1 Meaning

Meanings

  • literally (word for word) the yamen is strong as iron, the officials flow like water (idiomatic expression)
  • metaphorically government officials come and go

Simplified Characters

铁 打 的 衙 门 ， 流 水 的 官

Traditional Characters

鐵 打 的 衙 門 ， 流 水 的 官

Pinyin

tie3 da3 de5 ya2 men5 , liu2 shui3 de5 guan1

Literal

Literal explanation, with pronunciation and meaning of each character.

铁tie3surname Tie 打da3dozen (loanword) 的de5of 衙ya2surname Ya 门men2surname Men ， 流liu2to flow 水shui3surname Shui 的de5of 官guan1surname Guan