pí​zhī​bù​cún​máo​jiāng​yān​fù

without the foundation nothing survives

  1. noun
    skin; leather
    skin, fur, or hide of humans or animals; leather; peel or bark of plants
  2. zhī particle
    [nominalizer]
    Used between a subject and a verb to turn the phrase into a noun-like unit.
  3. adverb
    not
    Negative adverb used before verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs to indicate negation; also used as a bound-form prefix to form terms with opposite meanings
  4. to exist
    to exist; to live; to survive; to remain on balance or be in stock
  5. máo
    non-Chinese
  6. hair
    hair; feather; down; wool; fine silk-like fibers on plants or fruit
  7. jiāng auxiliaryadverb
    [future]
    Shows that an action will happen in the future; will; shall; be going to
  8. how
    (literary) how; why; by what means; often used in rhetorical questions
  9. verb
    to adhere to
    to adhere to; to depend on; to go along with or agree to