知其不可而為
See also: 知其不可而为
Chinese
to know; to be aware | his; her; its his; her; its; theirs; that; such; it (refers to sth preceding it) |
cannot; should not; must not | and; as well as; but (not) and; as well as; but (not); yet (not); (shows causal relation); (shows change of state); (shows contrast) |
because of; for; to because of; for; to; act as; take...to be; to be; to do; to serve as; to become | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
trad. (知其不可而為/知其不可而爲) | 知 | 其 | 不可 | 而 | 為/爲 | |
simp. (知其不可而为) | 知 | 其 | 不可 | 而 | 为 |
Etymology
The Analects:
- 子路宿於石門。晨門曰:「奚自?」子路曰:「自孔氏。」曰:「是知其不可而為之者與?」 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
- From: The Analects of Confucius, c. 475 – 221 BCE, translated based on James Legge's version
- Zǐlù sù yú Shímén. Chénmén yuē: “Xīzì?” Zǐlù yuē: “Zì Kǒng shì.” Yuē: “Shì zhī qí bùkě ér wéi zhī zhě yú?” [Pinyin]
- Zilu spent the night at Shimen.
(In the morning) the gatekeeper asked him, “Where do you come from?”
Zilu said, “I come from (the house of) Mr. Kong.”
(The gate keeper) responded, “Is he (not) the one who knows the futility (of doing something) yet does it anyway.”[1]
子路宿于石门。晨门曰:「奚自?」子路曰:「自孔氏。」曰:「是知其不可而为之者与?」 [Classical Chinese, simp.]
Note:
Pronunciation
- Mandarin
- (Standard Chinese)+
- Hanyu Pinyin:
- Zhuyin: ㄓ ㄑㄧˊ ㄅㄨˋ ㄎㄜˇ ㄦˊ ㄨㄟˊ
- Tongyong Pinyin: jhih cí bùkě ér wéi
- Wade–Giles: chih1 chʻi2 pu4-kʻo3 êrh2 wei2
- Yale: jr̄ chí bù-kě ér wéi
- Gwoyeu Romatzyh: jy chyi bukee erl wei
- Palladius: чжи ци букэ эр вэй (čži ci bukɛ er vɛj)
- Sinological IPA (key): /ʈ͡ʂʐ̩⁵⁵ t͡ɕʰi³⁵ pu⁵¹ kʰɤ²¹⁴⁻²¹ ˀɤɻ³⁵ weɪ̯³⁵/
- (Standard Chinese)+
- Cantonese
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)+
- Jyutping: zi1 kei4 bat1 ho2 ji4 wai4
- Yale: jī kèih bāt hó yìh wàih
- Cantonese Pinyin: dzi1 kei4 bat7 ho2 ji4 wai4
- Guangdong Romanization: ji1 kéi4 bed1 ho2 yi4 wei4
- Sinological IPA (key): /t͡siː⁵⁵ kʰei̯²¹ pɐt̚⁵ hɔː³⁵ jiː²¹ wɐi̯²¹/
- (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)+
Idiom
(deprecated template usage) 知其不可而為
- to (stubbornly) do something even though you know it is impossible; to understand the difficulty of a feat but to attempt it anyway because it is the right thing to do (e.g. strive to eliminate world hunger)
Synonyms
Categories:
- Literary Chinese terms with quotations
- Chinese lemmas
- Mandarin lemmas
- Cantonese lemmas
- Chinese idioms
- Mandarin idioms
- Cantonese idioms
- Chinese terms with IPA pronunciation
- Chinese terms spelled with 知
- Chinese terms spelled with 其
- Chinese terms spelled with 不
- Chinese terms spelled with 可
- Chinese terms spelled with 而
- Chinese terms spelled with 為