不易

Chinese

Etymology 1

		not; no	easy
simp. and trad. (不易)		不	易

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): bùyì

  (Zhuyin): ㄅㄨˋ ㄧˋ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): bat¹ ji⁶

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)
    • Hanyu Pinyin: bùyì [Phonetic: búyì]
    • Zhuyin: ㄅㄨˋ ㄧˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: bùyì
    • Wade–Giles: pu⁴-i⁴
    • Yale: bù-yì
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: buyih
    • Palladius: буи (bui)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /pu⁵¹⁻³⁵ i⁵¹/
    • Homophones:

      edit edit 不亦 不意 不易 不義 / 不义

• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: bat¹ ji⁶
    • Yale: bāt yih
    • Cantonese Pinyin: bat⁷ ji⁶
    • Guangdong Romanization: bed¹ yi⁶
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /pɐt̚⁵ jiː²²/

---

• Middle Chinese: pjuw|pjuwX|pjut yeH

Rime
Character	不	不	不	易
Reading #	1/3	2/3	3/3	1/2
Initial (聲)	幫 (1)	幫 (1)	幫 (1)	以 (36)
Final (韻)	尤 (136)	尤 (136)	物 (60)	支 (11)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)	Rising (X)	Checked (Ø)	Departing (H)
Openness (開合)	Open	Open	Closed	Open
Division (等)	III	III	III	III
Fanqie	甫鳩切	方久切	分勿切	以豉切
Baxter	pjuw	pjuwX	pjut	yeH
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/pɨu/	/pɨuX/	/pɨut̚/	/jiᴇH/
Pan Wuyun	/piu/	/piuX/	/piut̚/	/jiɛH/
Shao Rongfen	/piəu/	/piəuX/	/piuət̚/	/jɛH/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/puw/	/puwX/	/put̚/	/jiə̆H/
Li Rong	/piu/	/piuX/	/piuət̚/	/ieH/
Wang Li	/pĭəu/	/pĭəuX/	/pĭuət̚/	/jǐeH/
Bernhard Karlgren	/pi̯ə̯u/	/pi̯ə̯uX/	/pi̯uət̚/	/ie̯H/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	fōu	fǒu	fu	yì
Expected Cantonese Reflex	fau1	fau2	fat1	ji6

• Old Chinese

  (Baxter–Sagart): /*pə  lek-s/

  (Zhengzhang): /*pɯ|pɯʔ|pɯ'  leːɡs/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	不	易
Reading #	1/2	1/2
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	bù	yì
Middle Chinese	‹ pjuw ›	‹ yeH ›
Old Chinese	/*pə/	/*lek-s/
English	not	easy
Notes for Old Chinese notations in the Baxter–Sagart system: * Parentheses "()" indicate uncertain presence; * Square brackets "[]" indicate uncertain identity, e.g. *[t] as coda may in fact be *-t or *-p; * Angle brackets "<>" indicate infix; * Hyphen "-" indicates morpheme boundary; * Period "." indicates syllable boundary.

Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character	不	不	不	易
Reading #	1/3	2/3	3/3	1/2
No.	1025	1029	1048	15029
Phonetic component	不	不	不	易
Rime group	之	之	物	賜
Rime subdivision	0	0	1	0
Corresponding MC rime	不	缶	弗	易
Old Chinese	/*pɯ/	/*pɯʔ/	/*pɯ'/	/*leːɡs/
Notes		象花柎與本同源	中古才促化

Verb

不易

1. (literary) to be not easy

   生活不易  ―  shēnghuó bùyì  ―  life is not easy

   • 為君難，為臣不易。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     为君难，为臣不易。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: The Analects of Confucius, c. 475 – 221 BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

     Wéi jūn nán, wéi chén bùyì. [Pinyin]

     To be a prince is difficult; to be a minister is not easy.

Derived terms

• 來之不易 / 来之不易 (láizhībùyì)

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (不易):

• → Japanese: 不易(ふい) (fui)
• → Korean: 불이(不易) (buri)

Etymology 2

		not; no	to change
simp. and trad. (不易)		不	易

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): bùyì

  (Zhuyin): ㄅㄨˋ ㄧˋ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): bat¹ jik⁶

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)
    • Hanyu Pinyin: bùyì [Phonetic: búyì]
    • Zhuyin: ㄅㄨˋ ㄧˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: bùyì
    • Wade–Giles: pu⁴-i⁴
    • Yale: bù-yì
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: buyih
    • Palladius: буи (bui)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /pu⁵¹⁻³⁵ i⁵¹/
    • Homophones:

      edit edit 不亦 不意 不易 不義 / 不义

• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: bat¹ jik⁶
    • Yale: bāt yihk
    • Cantonese Pinyin: bat⁷ jik⁹
    • Guangdong Romanization: bed¹ yig⁶
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /pɐt̚⁵ jɪk̚²/

---

• Middle Chinese: pjuw|pjuwX|pjut yek

Rime
Character	不	不	不	易
Reading #	1/3	2/3	3/3	2/2
Initial (聲)	幫 (1)	幫 (1)	幫 (1)	以 (36)
Final (韻)	尤 (136)	尤 (136)	物 (60)	昔 (123)
Tone (調)	Level (Ø)	Rising (X)	Checked (Ø)	Checked (Ø)
Openness (開合)	Open	Open	Closed	Open
Division (等)	III	III	III	III
Fanqie	甫鳩切	方久切	分勿切	羊益切
Baxter	pjuw	pjuwX	pjut	yek
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/pɨu/	/pɨuX/	/pɨut̚/	/jiᴇk̚/
Pan Wuyun	/piu/	/piuX/	/piut̚/	/jiɛk̚/
Shao Rongfen	/piəu/	/piəuX/	/piuət̚/	/iæk̚/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/puw/	/puwX/	/put̚/	/jiajk̚/
Li Rong	/piu/	/piuX/	/piuət̚/	/iɛk̚/
Wang Li	/pĭəu/	/pĭəuX/	/pĭuət̚/	/jĭɛk̚/
Bernhard Karlgren	/pi̯ə̯u/	/pi̯ə̯uX/	/pi̯uət̚/	/i̯ɛk̚/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	fōu	fǒu	fu	yì
Expected Cantonese Reflex	fau1	fau2	fat1	jik6

• Old Chinese

  (Baxter–Sagart): /*pə  lek/

  (Zhengzhang): /*pɯ|pɯʔ|pɯ'  leɡ/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	不	易
Reading #	1/2	2/2
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	bù	yì
Middle Chinese	‹ pjuw ›	‹ yek ›
Old Chinese	/*pə/	/*lek/
English	not	change; exchange
Notes for Old Chinese notations in the Baxter–Sagart system: * Parentheses "()" indicate uncertain presence; * Square brackets "[]" indicate uncertain identity, e.g. *[t] as coda may in fact be *-t or *-p; * Angle brackets "<>" indicate infix; * Hyphen "-" indicates morpheme boundary; * Period "." indicates syllable boundary.

Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character	不	不	不	易
Reading #	1/3	2/3	3/3	2/2
No.	1025	1029	1048	15034
Phonetic component	不	不	不	易
Rime group	之	之	物	錫
Rime subdivision	0	0	1	0
Corresponding MC rime	不	缶	弗	繹
Old Chinese	/*pɯ/	/*pɯʔ/	/*pɯ'/	/*leɡ/
Notes		象花柎與本同源	中古才促化	甲文象斟酒，表易器而賜

Verb

不易

1. (literary) to not change

   • 上必無為而用天下，下必有為為天下用，此不易之道也。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
     上必无为而用天下，下必有为为天下用，此不易之道也。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

     From: Zhuangzi, circa 3^rd – 2^nd centuries BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

     Shàng bì wúwéi ér yòng tiānxià, xià bì yǒuwéi wéi tiānxià yòng, cǐ bùyì zhī dào yě. [Pinyin]

     But that the superiors do nothing and yet thereby use the world in their service, and that the inferiors, while acting, be employed in the service of the world, is an unchangeable principle.

Derived terms

• 一定不易 (yīdìngbùyì)
• 不易之論 / 不易之论 (bùyìzhīlùn)
• 千古不易

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (不易):

• → Japanese: 不(ふ)易(えき) (fueki)
• → Korean: 불역(不易) (buryeok)

Japanese

Kanji in this term
不	易
ふ Grade: 4	えき Grade: 5
on'yomi

Pronunciation

• (Tokyo) ふえき [fùékí] (Heiban – [0])
• (Tokyo) ふえき [fúꜜèkì] (Atamadaka – [1])
• IPA^(key): [ɸɯ̟e̞kʲi]

Noun

不(ふ)易(えき) • (fueki) 

1. constancy, immutable

   Synonyms: 不変, 一定

   Antonym: 可変

   万古(ばんこ)不易(ふえき)の真理(しんり)

   bankofueki no shinri

   the eternal truth

Adjective

不(ふ)易(えき) • (fueki) -na (adnominal 不(ふ)易(えき)な (fueki na), adverbial 不(ふ)易(えき)に (fueki ni))

1. everlasting, unchangeable

Inflection

Inflection of 不易

Stem forms
Imperfective (未然形)	不易だろ	ふえきだろ	fueki daro
Continuative (連用形)	不易で	ふえきで	fueki de
Terminal (終止形)	不易だ	ふえきだ	fueki da
Attributive (連体形)	不易な	ふえきな	fueki na
Hypothetical (仮定形)	不易なら	ふえきなら	fueki nara
Imperative (命令形)	不易であれ	ふえきであれ	fueki de are
Key constructions
Informal negative	不易ではない 不易じゃない	ふえきではない ふえきじゃない	fueki de wa nai fueki ja nai
Informal past	不易だった	ふえきだった	fueki datta
Informal negative past	不易ではなかった 不易じゃなかった	ふえきではなかった ふえきじゃなかった	fueki de wa nakatta fueki ja nakatta
Formal	不易です	ふえきです	fueki desu
Formal negative	不易ではありません 不易じゃありません	ふえきではありません ふえきじゃありません	fueki de wa arimasen fueki ja arimasen
Formal past	不易でした	ふえきでした	fueki deshita
Formal negative past	不易ではありませんでした 不易じゃありませんでした	ふえきではありませんでした ふえきじゃありませんでした	fueki de wa arimasen deshita fueki ja arimasen deshita
Conjunctive	不易で	ふえきで	fueki de
Conditional	不易なら（ば）	ふえきなら（ば）	fueki nara (ba)
Provisional	不易だったら	ふえきだったら	fueki dattara
Volitional	不易だろう	ふえきだろう	fueki darō
Adverbial	不易に	ふえきに	fueki ni
Degree	不易さ	ふえきさ	fuekisa

Derived terms

• 千古不易(せんこふえき) (senkofueki)
• 万古不易(ばんこふえき) (bankofueki)
• 万世不易(ばんせいふえき) (banseifueki)
• 万代不易(ばんだいふえき) (bandaifueki)

References

• “不易”, in 漢字ぺディア [Kanjipedia]‎^[1] (in Japanese), The Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation, 2015–2026