民以食为天 (民以食為天)
mín yǐ shí wéi tiān
Pinyin

Definition

民以食为天 (民以食為天)
 - 
mín yǐ shí wéi tiān
  1. Food is the God of the people. (idiom); People view food as the primary need.
  2. Food first, ethical niceties second

Related Words (20)

  1. 1 old variant of 以[yǐ]
jīn tiān
  1. 1 today
  2. 2 at the present
  3. 3 now
yǐ hòu
  1. 1 after
  2. 2 later
  3. 3 afterwards
  4. 4 following
  5. 5 later on
  6. 6 in the future
yǐ wéi
  1. 1 to think (i.e. to take it to be true that ...) (Usually there is an implication that the notion is mistaken – except when expressing one's own current opinion.)
kě yǐ
  1. 1 can
  2. 2 may
  3. 3 possible
  4. 4 able to
  5. 5 not bad
  6. 6 pretty good

Idioms (20)

一人得道,鸡犬升天
yī rén dé dào , jī quǎn shēng tiān
  1. 1 lit. when a man achieves the Dao, his poultry and dogs rise to Heaven (idiom)
  2. 2 fig. to ride on sb else's success
  3. 3 Once one man gets a government position, all his cronies get in too
  4. 4 Once sb has cracked the problem, every Tom, Dick and Harry can do it
一个天南,一个地北
yī ge tiān nán , yī ge dì běi
  1. 1 to live miles apart (idiom)
一则以喜,一则以忧
yī zé yǐ xǐ , yī zé yǐ yōu
  1. 1 happy on the one hand, but worried on the other (idiom)
一柱擎天
yī zhù qíng tiān
  1. 1 lit. to support the sky as a single pillar (idiom)
  2. 2 fig. to take a crucial responsibility upon one's shoulders
一步登天
yī bù dēng tiān
  1. 1 reaching heaven in a single bound (idiom); (esp. with negative: don't expect) instant success

Sample Sentences

欢迎收看“天下美食”!我们的两位美食家可以说是过五关斩六将,来到今天的节目。中国有句老话,叫“民以食为天”。不过不同地区的人对吃都有自己特别的讲究。所以今天,我们就要来考考两位对中国八大菜系有多了解。来,欢迎两位!
huānyíng shōukān “tiānxiàměishí ”!wǒmen de liǎng wèi měishíjiā kěyǐ shuō shì guòwǔguānzhǎnliùjiàng ,láidào jīntiān de jiémù 。Zhōngguó yǒu jù lǎohuà ,jiào “mínyǐshíwèitiān ”。bùguò bùtóng dìqū de rén duì chī dōu yǒu zìjǐ tèbié de jiǎngjiù 。suǒyǐ jīntiān ,wǒmen jiùyào lái kǎokǎo liǎngwèi duì Zhōngguó bā dà càixì yǒu duō liǎojiě 。lái ,huānyíng liǎng wèi !
Welcome to ''Delicacies of the World"! We can safely say that they have triumphed over many foes to come to our show today.There's an old proverb in China, ''Food is everything to people." But people from different areas all have their own ideas about food. So today we're going to test these two on their understanding of China's eight great schools of cuisine. Come on, give them a warm welcome!
民以食为天。
mínyǐshíwéitiān 。
Everyone's got to eat.
Go to Lesson 
哎!民以食为天。这天天吃饭的家伙还是得买个好的。走,咱们上网搜搜去。
āi !mínyǐshíwéitiān 。zhè tiāntiān chīfàn de jiāhuo háishì děi mǎi ge hǎo de 。zǒu ,zánmen shàngwǎng sōu sou qù 。
Hey, rice is essential. For something you cook with every day, you'd better buy a good one. Come on, let's search online.
Go to Lesson 
中国人讲究“民以食为天”,一般家里有重要的喜事就会请客,让亲戚朋友们分享好消息,顺便联络感情。不过一般只有整岁,比如10岁、20岁、50岁的生日才会大肆庆祝一番,普通的生日只是跟家人们一起小小地庆祝。我记得我10岁生日的时候好像就请了十几桌呢。
zhōngguórén jiǎngjiù “mínyǐshíwéitiān ”,yībān jiālǐ yǒu zhòngyào de xǐshì jiù huì qǐngkè ,ràng qīnqīpéngyǒumen fēnxiǎng hǎo xiāoxi ,shùnbiàn liánluò gǎnqíng 。bùguò yībān zhǐyǒu zhěng suì ,bǐrú shí suì 、èrshí suì 、wǔshí suì de shēngrì cái huì dàsì qìngzhù yīfān ,pǔtōng de shēngrì zhǐshì gēn jiārénmen yīqǐ xiǎoxiǎo de qìngzhù 。wǒ jìde wǒ shí suì shēngrì de shíhou hǎoxiàng jiù qǐng le shíjǐ zhuō ne 。