不恥下問
See also: 不耻下问
Chinese
not; no | shame; disgrace | to ask someone who is less learned or of lesser status than oneself | ||
---|---|---|---|---|
trad. (不恥下問) | 不 | 恥 | 下問 | |
simp. (不耻下问) | 不 | 耻 | 下问 |
Etymology
The Analects:
- 子貢問曰:「孔文子何以謂之文也?」子曰:「敏而好學,不恥下問,是以謂之文也。」 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
- From: The Analects of Confucius, c. 475 – 221 BCE, Wiktionary translation
- Zǐgòng wèn yuē: “Kǒng wén zǐ héyǐ wèi zhī wén yě?” Zǐ yuē: “Mǐn ér hǎo xué, bù chǐ xià wèn, shì yǐ wèi zhī wén yě.” [Pinyin]
- Zigong asked, “How did Kong The Learned come to be (posthumously) dubbed The Learned?”
Master (Confucius) said, “He was clever and loved to learn, he was not ashamed to ask his subordinates (if he did not know something). This is why he was dubbed The Learned.”
子贡问曰:「孔文子何以谓之文也?」子曰:「敏而好学,不耻下问,是以谓之文也。」 [Classical Chinese, simp.]
Pronunciation
- Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)+
- Hanyu Pinyin:
- Zhuyin: ㄅㄨˋ ㄔˇ ㄒㄧㄚˋ ㄨㄣˋ
- Tongyong Pinyin: bùchǐhsiàwùn
- Wade–Giles: pu4-chʻih3-hsia4-wên4
- Yale: bù-chř-syà-wèn
- Gwoyeu Romatzyh: buchyyshiahwenn
- Palladius: бучисявэнь (bučisjavɛnʹ)
- Sinological IPA (key): /pu⁵¹ ʈ͡ʂʰʐ̩²¹⁴⁻²¹ ɕi̯ä⁵¹⁻⁵³ wən⁵¹/
- (Standard Chinese)+
- Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)+
- Jyutping: bat1 ci2 haa6 man6
- Yale: bāt chí hah mahn
- Cantonese Pinyin: bat7 tsi2 haa6 man6
- Guangdong Romanization: bed1 qi2 ha6 men6
- Sinological IPA (key): /pɐt̚⁵ t͡sʰiː³⁵ haː²² mɐn²²/
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)+
Idiom
(deprecated template usage) 不恥下問
- to be not ashamed to learn from one's subordinates