諺語 · a single proverb
天高皇帝遠
Simplified: 天高皇帝远
What does 天高皇帝遠 (tiān gāo huáng dì yuǎn) mean?
天高皇帝遠 (tiān gāo huáng dì yuǎn) is a folk proverb (yànyǔ 諺語). Word for word it reads "the sky is high, the emperor is far away." In use it means: Distant authority cannot control what happens at the local level; in remote places, people govern themselves. You reach for it when you want that idea in one breath, and the Earth note it carries is why we hand it to those born in the Year of the Horse.
Literally: "the sky is high, the emperor is far away."
The reading
There is a kind of freedom that only the far-away places know. Where no one is watching, things grow in their own shapes. The village beyond the mountain has its own understanding of what the rules mean-and often it is wiser than the center.
What kind of proverb it is
Source Chinese folk proverb 民間諺語; common from Song dynasty
Sits beside
Keep reading
Return to the Proverb Pond to draw another of the eighty-seven, or hear one read aloud. Read the rest of its chapter in Timing & Fortune's Turning, or follow the years these lines belong to: Year of the Horse, Year of the Rat, and Year of the Ox.
Questions
Is 天高皇帝遠 a real Chinese proverb?
Yes. 天高皇帝遠 (tiān gāo huáng dì yuǎn) is a folk proverb (yànyǔ 諺語), and it comes from Chinese folk proverb 民間諺語; common from Song dynasty. It is living Chinese heritage, given here with per-character pinyin and its source so you can trust the line, not a phrase invented in English.
How do you pronounce 天高皇帝遠?
In Mandarin it is tiān gāo huáng dì yuǎn. Read the pinyin above each character to follow the tones, or press the speaker beside the calligraphy to hear your browser read 天高皇帝遠 aloud in Mandarin.