魚與熊掌不可兼得

See also: 鱼与熊掌不可兼得

Chinese

		fish	and; to give; together with and; to give; together with; take part in; (interrog. part.)	bear's paw	cannot; should not; must not	double; twice; simultaneous double; twice; simultaneous; holding two or more (official) posts at the same time	get; obtain; gain get; obtain; gain; proper; suitable; proud; contented; allow; permit; ready; finished; a sentence particle used after a verb to show effect; degree or possibility; to have to; must; ought to; to need to
trad. (魚與熊掌不可兼得)		魚	與	熊掌	不可	兼	得
simp. (鱼与熊掌不可兼得)		鱼	与	熊掌	不可	兼	得
Literally: “One cannot get fish and bear's paw at the same time.”

Etymology

From Mencius:

孟子曰：「魚，我所欲也；熊掌，亦我所欲也，二者不可得兼，舍魚而取熊掌者也。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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孟子曰：「鱼，我所欲也；熊掌，亦我所欲也，二者不可得兼，舍鱼而取熊掌者也。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

Mèngzǐ yuē: “Yú, wǒ suǒ yù yě; xióngzhǎng, yì wǒ suǒ yù yě, èr zhě bùkě dé jiān, shě yú ér qǔ xióngzhǎng zhě yě. Shēng, yì wǒ suǒ yù yě; yì, yì wǒ suǒ yù yě, èr zhě bùkě dé jiān, shě shēng ér qǔ yì zhě yě.” [Pinyin]

Mencius said, 'I like fish, and I also like bear's paws. If I cannot have the two together, I will let the fish go, and take the bear's paws. 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): yú yǔ xióngzhǎng bùkě jiān dé

  (Zhuyin): ㄩˊ ㄩˇ ㄒㄩㄥˊ ㄓㄤˇ ㄅㄨˋ ㄎㄜˇ ㄐㄧㄢ ㄉㄜˊ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): jyu⁴ jyu⁵ hung⁴ zoeng² bat¹ ho² gim¹ dak¹

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: yú yǔ xióngzhǎng bùkě jiān dé
    • Zhuyin: ㄩˊ ㄩˇ ㄒㄩㄥˊ ㄓㄤˇ ㄅㄨˋ ㄎㄜˇ ㄐㄧㄢ ㄉㄜˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: yú yǔ syóngjhǎng bùkě jian dé
    • Wade–Giles: yü² yü³ hsiung²-chang³ pu⁴-kʻo³ chien¹ tê²
    • Yale: yú yǔ syúng-jǎng bù-kě jyān dé
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: yu yeu shyongjaang bukee jian der
    • Palladius: юй юй сюнчжан букэ цзянь дэ (juj juj sjunčžan bukɛ czjanʹ dɛ)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /y³⁵ y²¹⁴⁻²¹ ɕi̯ʊŋ³⁵ ʈ͡ʂɑŋ²¹⁴⁻²¹ pu⁵¹ kʰɤ²¹⁴⁻²¹ t͡ɕi̯ɛn⁵⁵ tɤ³⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: jyu⁴ jyu⁵ hung⁴ zoeng² bat¹ ho² gim¹ dak¹
    • Yale: yùh yúh hùhng jéung bāt hó gīm dāk
    • Cantonese Pinyin: jy⁴ jy⁵ hung⁴ dzoeng² bat⁷ ho² gim¹ dak⁷
    • Guangdong Romanization: yu⁴ yu⁵ hung⁴ zêng² bed¹ ho² gim¹ deg¹
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /jyː²¹ jyː¹³ hʊŋ²¹ t͡sœːŋ³⁵ pɐt̚⁵ hɔː³⁵ kiːm⁵⁵ tɐk̚⁵/

Proverb

魚與熊掌不可兼得

1. One can't have one's cake and eat it, too.

See also

• 捨生取義／舍生取义 (shěshēngqǔyì): Another idiom derived from the same paragraph in Mencius.