鐵打的衙門，流水的官 tiě dǎ de yá men ， liú shuǐ de guān

officials come and go; office stays the same

Word data

HSK Not in HSK
Frequency Unknown

Definitions

  1. 1. lit. the yamen is strong as iron, the officials flow like water (idiom)
  2. 2. fig. government officials come and go

Characters

Character Meaning
鐵 tiě
iron (metal); hard; strong
打 dǎ HSK 1
to hit; to strike; to beat
的 de HSK 1
(used after an attribute)
衙 yá
yamen 衙门yá men; office; surname Ya
門 men
door; gate; doorway
流 liú HSK 4
to flow; to circulate or spread; to move or drift
水 shuǐ HSK 1
water; liquid; beverage
的 de HSK 1
(used after an attribute)
官 guān HSK 5
official; government official; governmental