Chinese idiom · 成语
三教九流
Meaning
Three teachings, nine streams; all walks of life.
Character by character
Origin and story
Historical classification and later usageThe expression combines two older classifications. The three teachings are Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism; the Zhou Shu records a Northern Zhou court discussion that explicitly ranks them. The nine streams are intellectual traditions classified in Han bibliography, including Confucian, Daoist, Yin-yang, Legalist, Logician, Mohist, Diplomatic, Eclectic, and Agricultural schools.
The combined wording appears in Song writings such as Zhao Yanwei's Yun Lu Man Chao. It first evokes a broad range of teachings and learned traditions, but later literature also uses it for people from many occupations and backgrounds. In that wider sense it need not mean criminals or low-status people, although a dismissive context can make it sound disparaging.
Sources and further reading
In everyday life
爷爷开了几十年茶馆，三教九流的人都接触过。
Grandpa ran a teahouse for decades and met people from every walk of life.
Can be broad and inclusive, but tone matters; it sometimes carries a dismissive implication.