君子は周して比せず小人は比して周せず
Japanese
| Kanji in this term | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 君 | 子 | 周 | 比 | 小 | 人 | 比 | 周 |
| くん Grade: 3 | し Grade: 1 | しゅう Grade: 4 | ひ Grade: 5 | しょう Grade: 1 | じん Grade: 1 | ひ Grade: 5 | しゅう Grade: 4 |
Etymology
From Middle Chinese: 君子周而不比、小人比而不周
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [kɯ̟̃ᵝɰ̃ɕi ɰᵝa̠ ɕɨᵝːɕite̞ çise̞zɨᵝ ɕo̞ːʑĩɰ̃ ɰᵝa̠ çiɕite̞ ɕɨᵝːse̞zɨᵝ]
Proverb
君子は周して比せず小人は比して周せず (hiragana くんしはしゅうしてひせずしょうじんはひしてしゅうせず, rōmaji kunshi wa shūshite hisezu shōjin wa hishite shūsezu)
- A gentleman encompasses all and remains impartial. A petty mind is partial and does not encompass all. That is, a gentleman shows kindness to all with fairness, but a petty person is only kind to a few friends.
References
- The Kōjien (広辞苑) Dictionary of the Japanese Language, 5th edition, Iwanami Shoten Publishing, Tokyo.