捨生取義

See also: 舍生取义

Chinese

		give up; abandon	to be born; to give birth; life to be born; to give birth; life; to grow; student; raw	to take; to get; to choose to take; to get; to choose; to fetch	justice; righteousness; meaning
trad. (捨生取義)		捨	生	取	義
simp. (舍生取义)		舍	生	取	义
alternative forms		舍生取義／舍生取义
Literally: “to sacrifice life for righteousness”.

Etymology

From Mencius (《孟子·告子上》):

生，亦我所欲也；義，亦我所欲也，二者不可得兼，舍生而取義者也。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]

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生，亦我所欲也；义，亦我所欲也，二者不可得兼，舍生而取义者也。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: Mencius, c. 4^th century BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

Shēng, yì wǒ suǒ yù yě; yì, yì wǒ suǒ yù yě, èrzhě bùkě dé jiān, shě shēng ér qǔ yì zhě yě. [Pinyin]

So, I like life, and I also like righteousness. If I cannot keep the two together, I will let life go, and choose righteousness.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): shěshēngqǔyì

  (Zhuyin): ㄕㄜˇ ㄕㄥ ㄑㄩˇ ㄧˋ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): se² sang¹ ceoi² ji⁶
• Southern Min (Hokkien, POJ): siá-seng-chhú-gī

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: shěshēngqǔyì
    • Zhuyin: ㄕㄜˇ ㄕㄥ ㄑㄩˇ ㄧˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: shěshengcyǔyì
    • Wade–Giles: shê³-shêng¹-chʻü³-i⁴
    • Yale: shě-shēng-chyǔ-yì
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: sheeshengcheuyih
    • Palladius: шэшэнцюйи (šɛšɛncjuji)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ʂɤ²¹⁴⁻²¹ ʂɤŋ⁵⁵ t͡ɕʰy²¹⁴⁻²¹ i⁵¹/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: se² sang¹ ceoi² ji⁶
    • Yale: sé sāng chéui yih
    • Cantonese Pinyin: se² sang¹ tsoey² ji⁶
    • Guangdong Romanization: sé² seng¹ cêu² yi⁶
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /sɛː³⁵ sɐŋ⁵⁵ t͡sʰɵy̯³⁵ jiː²²/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen, General Taiwanese)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: siá-seng-chhú-gī
    • Tâi-lô: siá-sing-tshú-gī
    • Phofsit Daibuun: siafsengzhw'gi
    • IPA (Xiamen): /sia⁵³⁻⁴⁴ siɪŋ⁴⁴⁻²² t͡sʰu⁵³⁻⁴⁴ ɡi²²/
    • IPA (Taipei): /sia⁵³⁻⁴⁴ siɪŋ⁴⁴⁻³³ t͡sʰu⁵³⁻⁴⁴ ɡi³³/
    • IPA (Kaohsiung): /sia⁴¹⁻⁴⁴ siɪŋ⁴⁴⁻³³ t͡sʰu⁴¹⁻⁴⁴ ɡi³³/

Idiom

捨生取義

1. to die to achieve virtue; to die for a just cause

Synonyms

• 殺身成仁／杀身成仁 (shāshēnchéngrén)

See also

• 魚與熊掌不可兼得 / 鱼与熊掌不可兼得 (yú yǔ xióngzhǎng bùkě jiān dé): Another idiom derived from the same paragraph in Mencius.