和尚打伞,无法无天
hé shang dǎ sǎn , wú fǎ wú tiān
lit. like a monk holding an umbrella — no hair, no sky (idiom) (punning on 髮|发[fa4] vs 法[fa3])
fig. defying the law and the principles of heaven; lawless
和
hé
(literary) harmonious (variant of 和[he2])
尚
shang
still
打
dǎ
a semantically light, transitive verb that is combined with various grammatical objects to form compound verbs and verb-object phrases with a diverse range of meanings (e.g. 打傘|打伞[da3 san3] "to hold an umbrella", 打電話|打电话[da3 dian4 hua4] "to make a phone call", 打針|打针[da3 zhen1] "to get an injection", 打手套[da3 shou3 tao4] "to knit gloves", 打氣|打气[da3 qi4] "to inflate")
伞
sǎn
damask silk
,
,
无
wú
not to have
法
fǎ
old variant of 法[fa3]
无
wú
not to have
天
tiān
day