禍水

Chinese

		disaster	water; river
trad. (禍水)		禍	水
simp. (祸水)		祸	水
Literally: “water of calamity”.

Etymology

Originally used to describe Empress Xiaocheng (Zhao Feiyan), an empress during the Han dynasty, in the erotic fiction Feiyan Waizhuan.

Empress Xiaocheng was known for her slender build, also giving rise partly to the idiom 環肥燕瘦 (literally “plump Huan, slender Fei”).

Pronunciation

Rime
Character	禍	水
Reading #	1/1	1/1
Initial (聲)	匣 (33)	書 (26)
Final (韻)	戈 (95)	脂 (18)
Tone (調)	Rising (X)	Rising (X)
Openness (開合)	Closed	Closed
Division (等)	I	III
Fanqie	胡果切	式軌切
Baxter	hwaX	sywijX
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/ɦuɑX/	/ɕˠiuɪX/
Pan Wuyun	/ɦuɑX/	/ɕʷᵚiX/
Shao Rongfen	/ɣuɑX/	/ɕiuɪX/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/ɦwaX/	/ɕjwiX/
Li Rong	/ɣuɑX/	/ɕjuiX/
Wang Li	/ɣuɑX/	/ɕwiX/
Bernard Karlgren	/ɣuɑX/	/ɕwiX/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	huò	shuǐ
Expected Cantonese Reflex	wo6	seoi2

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): huòshuǐ

  (Zhuyin): ㄏㄨㄛˋ ㄕㄨㄟˇ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): wo⁶ seoi²
• Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): hō-súi

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: huòshuǐ
    • Zhuyin: ㄏㄨㄛˋ ㄕㄨㄟˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: huòshuěi
    • Wade–Giles: huo⁴-shui³
    • Yale: hwò-shwěi
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: huohshoei
    • Palladius: хошуй (xošuj)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /xu̯ɔ⁵¹ ʂu̯eɪ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: wo⁶ seoi²
    • Yale: woh séui
    • Cantonese Pinyin: wo⁶ soey²
    • Guangdong Romanization: wo⁶ sêu²
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /wɔː²² sɵy̯³⁵/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: hō-súi
    • Tâi-lô: hō-suí
    • Phofsit Daibuun: hoixsuie
    • IPA (Xiamen): /ho²²⁻²¹ sui⁵³/
    • IPA (Quanzhou): /ho⁴¹⁻²² sui⁵⁵⁴/
    • IPA (Zhangzhou): /ho²²⁻²¹ sui⁵³/
    • IPA (Taipei): /ho³³⁻¹¹ sui⁵³/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /hɤ³³⁻²¹ sui⁴¹/

---

• Middle Chinese: hwaX sywijX

Noun

禍水

1. (figurative) charming beauty, as a source of calamity; femme fatale
2. (figurative, in general) person or thing that causes great trouble or suffering; scourge; vicious power; bane

Derived terms

• 紅顏禍水／红颜祸水 (hóngyánhuòshuǐ)