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 |
| on'yomi | |||||||
Etymology
Calque of Literary Chinese 君子周而不比，小人比而不周.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [kɯ̟̃ɰ̃ɕi β̞a̠ ɕɨːɕite̞ çise̞zɨ ɕo̞ːʑiɰ̃ β̞a̠ çiɕite̞ ɕɨːse̞zɨ]
Proverb
君子は周して比せず小人は比して周せず • (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
- Shinmura, Izuru, editor (1998), 広辞苑 [Kōjien] (in Japanese), Fifth edition, Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten, →ISBN