tiền tài như phấn thổ, nhơn ngãi tự thiên kim

In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.

Meaning · English

Money is powdered earth; decency is a thousand gold — the exchange rate the market never posts.

Literally: wealth like powder-dust; humane duty like a thousand gold

Examples

Tiền tài như phấn thổ, nhơn ngãi tự thiên kim.Money is dust and powder — decency, a thousand gold.

Editorial example (VI sweep batch 040, illustrative)

Sources & notes

Discovered via Tục ngữ, cổ ngữ, gia ngôn (Huỳnh Tịnh Của, 1897; public domain, via vi.wikisource); retrieved 2026-08-01. Source: source ↗ Attested in Tục ngữ, cổ ngữ, gia ngôn (Huỳnh Tịnh Của, 1897). Definition is an original editorial synthesis, not copied from the source.

Common questions

What does “tiền tài như phấn thổ, nhơn ngãi tự thiên kim” mean?

Money is powdered earth; decency is a thousand gold — the exchange rate the market never posts. Literally: wealth like powder-dust; humane duty like a thousand gold

Is “tiền tài như phấn thổ, nhơn ngãi tự thiên kim” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.