DICTIONARY · CC-CEDICT

為五斗米折腰

简为五斗米折腰 · 繁為五斗米折腰

Mandarin · pinyin wèi wǔ dǒu mǐ zhé yāo

(allusion to Tao Qian 陶潛 Táo Qián, who used this phrase when he resigned from government service rather than show subservience to a visiting inspector) to bow and scrape for five pecks of rice (that being a part of his salary as a local magistrate)
(fig.) to compromise one's principles for the sake of a salary

Characters in this entry

為: Look up this written character
五: wǔ · five; surname
斗: dòu · dǒu · a dipper; unit of volume (ten 升 or litres); Kangxi radical 68; 8th lunar mansion, determinative star φ Sagittarii
米: mǐ · hulled or husked uncooked rice
折: zhé · break off, snap; bend
腰: yāo · waist; kidney
为: wèi · do, handle, govern, act; be

Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

4–3–3–3–2–1 · wei4 wu3 dou3 mi3 zhe2 yao1

Dictionary tones. Connected speech can change their realization.

6character links1source reference

Counts describe dictionary records, not word frequency or semantic similarity. Source identities stay separate.