餓死事小，失節事大

Chinese
to starve to death; to die of starvation
 
matter; thing; item
matter; thing; item; work; affair
 
small; tiny; few
small; tiny; few; young
 to forfeit one's integrity; to be disloyal; to lose one's chastity
 
matter; thing; item
matter; thing; item; work; affair
 
big; great; huge
big; great; huge; large; major; wide; deep; oldest; eldest; doctor
trad. (餓死事小，失節事大) 餓死 事 小 ， 失節 事 大
simp. (饿死事小，失节事大) 饿死 事 小 ， 失节 事 大

Etymology

Quoted from the Song neo-Confucian philosopher Cheng Yi.

Pronunciation

  • Mandarin
    (Pinyin): èsǐ shì xiǎo, shījié shì dà
    (Zhuyin): ㄜˋ ㄙˇ ㄕˋ ㄒㄧㄠˇ , ㄕ ㄐㄧㄝˊ ㄕˋ ㄉㄚˋ
  • Cantonese (Jyutping): ngo6 sei2 si6 siu2, sat1 zit3 si6 daai6

Proverb

餓死事小，失節事大

  1. death by starvation is a small matter, but losing one's chastity is a great matter
  2. (figurative) integrity needs to be upheld even to the point of death
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