君子不立危牆之下

Chinese
 
junzi; man of virtue; high-minded person
junzi; man of virtue; high-minded person; noble person; superior person
 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 不 立 危 牆 之 下
simp. (君子不立危墙之下) 君子 不 立 危 墙 之 下
Literally: “A virtuous man does not stand next to a wall about to collapse.”

Etymology

From Mencius:

孟子曰：「莫非命也，順受其正。是故知命者，不立乎巖牆之下。盡其道而死者，正命也。桎梏死者，非正命也。」 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
孟子曰：「莫非命也，顺受其正。是故知命者，不立乎岩墙之下。尽其道而死者，正命也。桎梏死者，非正命也。」 [Classical Chinese, simp.]
From: Mencius, c. 4th century BCE
Mèngzǐ yuē: “Mò fēi mìng yě, shùn shòu qí zhèng. Shìgù zhīmìng zhě, bù lì hū 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

  • Mandarin
    (Pinyin): jūnzǐ bù lì wēiqiáng zhī xià, jūnzǐ bù lì wéiqiáng zhī xià
    (Zhuyin): ㄐㄩㄣ ㄗˇ ㄅㄨˋ ㄌㄧˋ ㄨㄟ ㄑㄧㄤˊ ㄓ ㄒㄧㄚˋ, ㄐㄩㄣ ㄗˇ ㄅㄨˋ ㄌㄧˋ ㄨㄟˊ ㄑㄧㄤˊ ㄓ ㄒㄧㄚˋ
  • Cantonese (Jyutping): gwan1 zi2 bat1 laap6 ngai4 coeng4 zi1 haa6, gwan1 zi2 bat1 lap6 ngai4 coeng4 zi1 haa6
  • Mandarin
    • (Standard Chinese, standard in Mainland)+
      • Hanyu Pinyin: jūnzǐ bù lì wēiqiáng zhī xià [Phonetic: jūnzǐ bú lì wēiqiáng zhī xià]
      • Zhuyin: ㄐㄩㄣ ㄗˇ ㄅㄨˋ ㄌㄧˋ ㄨㄟ ㄑㄧㄤˊ ㄓ ㄒㄧㄚˋ
      • Tongyong Pinyin: jyunzǐh bù lì weiciáng jhih sià
      • Wade–Giles: chün1-tzŭ3 pu4 li4 wei1-chʻiang2 chih1 hsia4
      • Yale: jyūn-dž bù lì wēi-chyáng jr̄ syà
      • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: jiuntzyy bu lih ueichyang jy shiah
      • Palladius: цзюньцзы бу ли вэйцян чжи ся (czjunʹczy bu li vɛjcjan čži sja)
      • Sinological IPA (key): /t͡ɕyn⁵⁵ t͡sz̩²¹⁴⁻²¹ pu⁵¹⁻³⁵ li⁵¹ weɪ̯⁵⁵ t͡ɕʰi̯ɑŋ³⁵ ʈ͡ʂʐ̩⁵⁵ ɕi̯ä⁵¹/
    • (Standard Chinese, standard in Taiwan; dated variant in Mainland)+
      • Hanyu Pinyin: jūnzǐ bù lì wéiqiáng zhī xià [Phonetic: jūnzǐ bú lì wéiqiáng zhī xià]
      • Zhuyin: ㄐㄩㄣ ㄗˇ ㄅㄨˋ ㄌㄧˋ ㄨㄟˊ ㄑㄧㄤˊ ㄓ ㄒㄧㄚˋ
      • Tongyong Pinyin: jyunzǐh bù lì wéiciáng jhih sià
      • Wade–Giles: chün1-tzŭ3 pu4 li4 wei2-chʻiang2 chih1 hsia4
      • Yale: jyūn-dž bù lì wéi-chyáng jr̄ syà
      • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: jiuntzyy bu lih weichyang jy shiah
      • Palladius: цзюньцзы бу ли вэйцян чжи ся (czjunʹczy bu li vɛjcjan čži sja)
      • Sinological IPA (key): /t͡ɕyn⁵⁵ t͡sz̩²¹⁴⁻²¹ pu⁵¹⁻³⁵ li⁵¹ weɪ̯³⁵ t͡ɕʰi̯ɑŋ³⁵ ʈ͡ʂʐ̩⁵⁵ ɕi̯ä⁵¹/
  • Cantonese
    • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong 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

君子不立危牆之下

  1. A man stays away from dangerous situations.
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