三教九流 sān jiào jiǔ liú — all sorts of people; every walk of life

三教九流
sān jiào jiǔ liú

Characters: 三 · 教 · 九 · 流

Definitions

  1. all sorts of people; every walk of life

More definitions

CC-CEDICT

  1. the Three Religions (Daoism, Confucianism, Buddhism) and Nine Schools (Confucians, Daoists, Yin-Yang, Legalists, Logicians, Mohists, Political Strategists, Eclectics, Agriculturists)
  2. fig. people from all trades (often derog.)

zdic(汉典)

  1. 三教指儒教、道教、佛教,九流指儒家者流、阴阳家者流、道家者流、法家者流、名家者流、墨家者流、纵横家者流、杂家者流、农家者流
  2. 宗教学术中的各种流派
  3. 各行各业的人——常含贬义

ExtDict

  1. 旧指宗教或学术上的各种流派。也指社会上各行各业的人。

Examples

  • 旧时码头三教九流，什么人都有。

    In the old days the dockside drew all sorts of people.

  • 他走南闯北，结识了三教九流。

    Traveling far and wide, he met people from every walk of life.