君子不器

Chinese

		junzi; man of virtue; high-minded person junzi; man of virtue; high-minded person; noble person; superior person	not; no	device; tool; utensil
trad. (君子不器)		君子	不	器
simp. #(君子不器)		君子	不	器

Etymology

From the Analects, Book 2 (《論語·爲政》):

子曰：「君子不器。」 [Classical Chinese, trad. and simp.]

From: The Analects of Confucius, c. 475 – 221 BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

Zǐyuē: “Jūnzǐ bù qì.” [Pinyin]

The Master said, "The accomplished scholar is not a utensil."

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): jūnzǐbùqì

  (Zhuyin): ㄐㄩㄣ ㄗˇ ㄅㄨˋ ㄑㄧˋ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): gwan¹ zi² bat¹ hei³

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: jūnzǐbùqì [Phonetic: jūnzǐbúqì]
    • Zhuyin: ㄐㄩㄣ ㄗˇ ㄅㄨˋ ㄑㄧˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: jyunzǐhbùcì
    • Wade–Giles: chün¹-tzŭ³-pu⁴-chʻi⁴
    • Yale: jyūn-dž-bù-chì
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: jiuntzyybuchih
    • Palladius: цзюньцзыбуци (czjunʹczybuci)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /t͡ɕyn⁵⁵ t͡sz̩²¹⁴⁻²¹ pu⁵¹⁻³⁵ t͡ɕʰi⁵¹/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: gwan¹ zi² bat¹ hei³
    • Yale: gwān jí bāt hei
    • Cantonese Pinyin: gwan¹ dzi² bat⁷ hei³
    • Guangdong Romanization: guen¹ ji² bed¹ héi³
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /kʷɐn⁵⁵ t͡siː³⁵ pɐt̚⁵ hei̯³³/

Proverb

君子不器

1. A gentleman is no specialist; Unlike a tool fashioned for a specific purpose, a gentleman is well-rounded, someone who has talents suited to any task.

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (君子不器):

• → Korean: 군자불기(君子不器) (gunjabulgi)
• → Vietnamese: quân tử bất khí (君子不器)

Others:

• → Japanese: 君(くん)子(し)は器(き)ならず (kunshi wa ki narazu) (calque)