挟天子以令天下

(expr.) hold the feudal overlord and you control the whole country

old variant of 夾|夹[jia1]

to clasp under the arm / to coerce

day / sky / heaven

the (rightful) emperor / "Son of Heaven" (traditional English translation)

son / child / seed / egg / small thing / 1st earthly branch: 11 p.m.-1 a.m., midnight, 11th solar month (7th December to 5th January), year of the Rat / Viscount, fourth of five orders of nobility 五等爵位[wu3 deng3 jue2 wei4] / ancient Chinese compass point: 0° (north) / subsidiary / subordinate / sub-

(noun suffix)

old variant of 以[yi3]

old variant of 以[yi3]

abbr. for Israel 以色列[Yi3 se4 lie4]

to use / by means of / according to / in order to / because of / at (a certain date or place)

used in 脊令[ji2 ling2] / used in 令狐[Ling2 hu2] (Taiwan pr. [ling4])

classifier for a ream of paper

to order / to command / an order / warrant / writ / to cause / to make sth happen / virtuous / honorific title / season / government position (old) / type of short song or poem

land under heaven / the whole world / the whole of China / realm / rule

down / downwards / below / lower / later / next (week etc) / second (of two parts) / to decline / to go down / to arrive at (a decision, conclusion etc) / measure word to show the frequency of an action