後生可畏

Chinese

		young person; young generation; descendants	dreadful; horrible; formidable
trad. (後生可畏)		後生	可畏
simp. (后生可畏)		后生	可畏

Etymology

From the Analects, Book 9 (《論語·子罕》):

子曰：「後生可畏，焉知來者之不如今也？四十、五十而無聞焉，斯亦不足畏也已。」 [Classical Chinese, trad.]

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子曰：「后生可畏，焉知来者之不如今也？四十、五十而无闻焉，斯亦不足畏也已。」 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

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

Zǐyuē: “Hòushēng kěwèi, yān zhī láizhě zhī bùrú jīn yě? Sìshí, wǔshí ér wú wén yān, sī yì bùzú wèi yě yǐ.” [Pinyin]

The Master said, "A youth is to be regarded with respect. How do we know that his future will not be equal to our present? If he reach the age of forty or fifty, and has not made himself heard of, then indeed he will not be worth being regarded with respect."

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): hòushēngkěwèi

  (Zhuyin): ㄏㄡˋ ㄕㄥ ㄎㄜˇ ㄨㄟˋ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): hau⁶ saang¹ ho² wai³ / hau⁶ sang¹ ho² wai³

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: hòushēngkěwèi
    • Zhuyin: ㄏㄡˋ ㄕㄥ ㄎㄜˇ ㄨㄟˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: hòushengkěwèi
    • Wade–Giles: hou⁴-shêng¹-kʻo³-wei⁴
    • Yale: hòu-shēng-kě-wèi
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: howshengkeewey
    • Palladius: хоушэнкэвэй (xoušɛnkɛvɛj)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /xoʊ̯⁵¹ ʂɤŋ⁵⁵ kʰɤ²¹⁴⁻²¹ weɪ̯⁵¹/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: hau⁶ saang¹ ho² wai³ / hau⁶ sang¹ ho² wai³
    • Yale: hauh sāang hó wai / hauh sāng hó wai
    • Cantonese Pinyin: hau⁶ saang¹ ho² wai³ / hau⁶ sang¹ ho² wai³
    • Guangdong Romanization: heo⁶ sang¹ ho² wei³ / heo⁶ seng¹ ho² wei³
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /hɐu̯²² saːŋ⁵⁵ hɔː³⁵ wɐi̯³³/, /hɐu̯²² sɐŋ⁵⁵ hɔː³⁵ wɐi̯³³/

Idiom

後生可畏

1. a young person displaying exceptional skills; a young person's abilities must be respected; though inexperienced, the younger generations will surpass us in time