不以物喜，不以己悲

Chinese

		not; no	to use; according to; so as to to use; according to; so as to; in order to; by; with; because; Israel (abbrev.)	thing; object; matter	to be fond of; to like; to enjoy to be fond of; to like; to enjoy; to be happy; to feel pleased; happiness; delight; glad		not; no	to use; according to; so as to to use; according to; so as to; in order to; by; with; because; Israel (abbrev.)	6th heavenly stem; self	sad; sadness; sorrow sad; sadness; sorrow; grief
trad. (不以物喜，不以己悲)		不	以	物	喜	，	不	以	己	悲
simp. #(不以物喜，不以己悲)		不	以	物	喜	，	不	以	己	悲
Literally: “to not be thrilled or depressed because of external objects and one's experiences”.

Etymology

From Yueyang Lou Ji by 范仲淹 (Fan Zhongyan):

予嘗求古仁人之心，或異二者之為，何哉？不以物喜，不以己悲。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]

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予尝求古仁人之心，或异二者之为，何哉？不以物喜，不以己悲。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: 1046, 范仲淹 (Fan Zhongyan), 《岳陽樓記》

Yú cháng qiú gǔ rénrén zhī xīn, huò yì èrzhě zhī wèi, hé zāi? Bù yǐ wù xǐ, bù yǐ jǐ bēi. [Pinyin]

I have looked into the attitude of the ancient sages, and it was different from those of the two aforementioned groups of people, why? (The ancient sages) were not thrilled or depressed because of external objects and their experiences.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): bùyǐwùxǐ, bùyǐjǐbēi

  (Zhuyin): ㄅㄨˋ ㄧˇ ㄨˋ ㄒㄧˇ , ㄅㄨˋ ㄧˇ ㄐㄧˇ ㄅㄟ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): bat¹ ji⁵ mat⁶ hei², bat¹ ji⁵ gei² bei¹

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: bùyǐwùxǐ, bùyǐjǐbēi [Phonetic: bùyǐwùxǐ,bùyíjǐbēi]
    • Zhuyin: ㄅㄨˋ ㄧˇ ㄨˋ ㄒㄧˇ , ㄅㄨˋ ㄧˇ ㄐㄧˇ ㄅㄟ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: bùyǐwùsǐ, bùyǐjǐbei
    • Wade–Giles: pu⁴-i³-wu⁴-hsi³, pu⁴-i³-chi³-pei¹
    • Yale: bù-yǐ-wù-syǐ-, bù-yǐ-jǐ-bēi
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: buyiiwuhshii, buyiijiibei
    • Palladius: буиуси, буицзибэй (buiusi, buiczibɛj)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /pu⁵¹ i²¹⁴⁻²¹ u⁵¹ ɕi²¹⁴⁻²¹ pu⁵¹ i²¹⁴⁻³⁵ t͡ɕi²¹⁴⁻²¹ peɪ̯⁵⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: bat¹ ji⁵ mat⁶ hei², bat¹ ji⁵ gei² bei¹
    • Yale: bāt yíh maht héi, bāt yíh géi bēi
    • Cantonese Pinyin: bat⁷ ji⁵ mat⁹ hei², bat⁷ ji⁵ gei² bei¹
    • Guangdong Romanization: bed¹ yi⁵ med⁶ héi², bed¹ yi⁵ géi² béi¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /pɐt̚⁵ jiː¹³ mɐt̚² hei̯³⁵ pɐt̚⁵ jiː¹³ kei̯³⁵ pei̯⁵⁵/

Idiom

不以物喜，不以己悲

1. to not be emotionally affected by external objects and one's experiences

Usage notes

It is equivalent to 不以物悲，不以己喜.