君子不立危牆之下

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Chinese

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not; no set up; to stand danger; to endanger wall 's; him/her/it; this
under; next; lower
under; next; lower; below; underneath; down(wards); to go down; latter
 
trad. (君子不立危牆之下) 君子
simp. (君子不立危墙之下) 君子
Literally: “A virtuous man does not stand next to a wall about to collapse.”

Etymology

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From Mencius:

孟子:「是故知命桎梏。」 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
孟子:「是故知命桎梏。」 [Classical Chinese, simp.]
From: Mencius, c. 4th century BCE
Mèngzǐ yuē: “Mò fēi mìng yě, shùn shòu qí zhèng. Shìgù zhīmìng zhě, yán qiáng zhī xià. Jìn qí dào ér sǐ zhě, zhèng mìng yě. Zhìgù sǐ zhě, fēi zhèng mìng yě.” [Pinyin]
Mencius said, 'There is an appointment for everything. A man should receive submissively what may be correctly ascribed thereto. Therefore, he who has the true idea of what is Heaven's appointment will not stand beneath a precipitous wall. Death sustained in the discharge of one's duties may correctly be ascribed to the appointment of Heaven. Death under handcuffs and fetters cannot correctly be so ascribed.'

Pronunciation

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  • Mandarin
  • Cantonese
    • (Standard Cantonese, GuangzhouHong Kong)+
      • Jyutping: gwan1 zi2 bat1 laap6 ngai4 coeng4 zi1 haa6 / gwan1 zi2 bat1 lap6 ngai4 coeng4 zi1 haa6
      • Yale: gwān jí bāt laahp ngàih chèuhng jī hah / gwān jí bāt lahp ngàih chèuhng jī hah
      • Cantonese Pinyin: gwan1 dzi2 bat7 laap9 ngai4 tsoeng4 dzi1 haa6 / gwan1 dzi2 bat7 lap9 ngai4 tsoeng4 dzi1 haa6
      • Guangdong Romanization: guen1 ji2 bed1 lab6 ngei4 cêng4 ji1 ha6 / guen1 ji2 bed1 leb6 ngei4 cêng4 ji1 ha6
      • Sinological IPA (key): /kʷɐn⁵⁵ t͡siː³⁵ pɐt̚⁵ laːp̚² ŋɐi̯²¹ t͡sʰœːŋ²¹ t͡siː⁵⁵ haː²²/, /kʷɐn⁵⁵ t͡siː³⁵ pɐt̚⁵ lɐp̚² ŋɐi̯²¹ t͡sʰœːŋ²¹ t͡siː⁵⁵ haː²²/

Proverb

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君子不立危牆之下

  1. A man stays away from dangerous situations.