成人之美

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Chinese

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finish; complete; accomplish
finish; complete; accomplish; become; turn into; win; succeed; one tenth
 
man; person; people possessive particle virtue; goodness
trad. (成人之美)
simp. #(成人之美)

Etymology

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From the Analects, Book 12 (《論語·顏淵》):

:「君子成人之美小人。」 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
:「君子成人之美小人。」 [Classical Chinese, simp.]
From: The Analects of Confucius, c. 475 – 221 BCE, translated based on James Legge's version
Zǐ yuē: “Jūnzǐ chéng rén zhī měi, bù chéng rén zhī è. Xiǎorén fǎn shì.” [Pinyin]
The Master said, "The superior man seeks to perfect the admirable qualities of men, and does not seek to perfect their bad qualities. The mean man does the opposite of this."

Pronunciation

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Idiom

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成人之美

  1. to help or encourage someone accomplish something; to assist
  2. (chiefly literary) to magnify other people's virtue; to make good someone's honourable intentions