寧可玉碎，不能瓦全

Chinese
would rather; would prefer; it would be better if a jade breaks; to die for moral principles, one's ideals or justice
 
cannot; must not; should not
cannot; must not; should not; to be unable to; to fail to
 tile
 
all; whole; entire
all; whole; entire; every; complete
trad. (寧可玉碎，不能瓦全) 寧可 玉碎 ， 不能 瓦 全
simp. (宁可玉碎，不能瓦全) 宁可 玉碎 ， 不能 瓦 全
Literally: “Rather be a broken piece of jade than be a tile in whole.”

Etymology

From 北齊書·元景安傳:

天保時，諸元帝室親近者多被誅戮。疏宗如景安之徒議欲請姓高氏，景皓云：「豈得棄本宗，逐他姓，大丈夫寧可玉碎，不能瓦全！」 [MSC, trad.]
天保时，诸元帝室亲近者多被诛戮。疏宗如景安之徒议欲请姓高氏，景皓云：「岂得弃本宗，逐他姓，大丈夫宁可玉碎，不能瓦全！」 [MSC, simp.]
Tiānbǎo shí, zhū Yuán dìshì qīnjìn zhě duō bèi zhūlù. Shū zōng rú Jǐng'ān zhī tú yì yù qǐng xìng Gāo shì, Jǐnghào yún: “Qǐ dé qì běn zōng, zhú tā xìng, dàzhàngfū níngkě yù suì, bùnéng wǎ quán!” [Pinyin]
In the Tianbao era, most personal who were related to the Yuan royal family had killed. Some distant family members, like Yuan Jing An, asked for changing their family name to Gao. Yuan Jing Hao, however, said, "How can you abandon your original family name, changed it into the other one? A real man would rather being broken piece of jade, than being a tile in whole!"

Pronunciation

  • Mandarin
    (Pinyin): nìngkě yùsuì, bùnéng wǎquán, níngkě yùsuì, bùnéng wǎquán
    (Zhuyin): ㄋㄧㄥˋ ㄎㄜˇ ㄩˋ ㄙㄨㄟˋ , ㄅㄨˋ ㄋㄥˊ ㄨㄚˇ ㄑㄩㄢˊ, ㄋㄧㄥˊ ㄎㄜˇ ㄩˋ ㄙㄨㄟˋ , ㄅㄨˋ ㄋㄥˊ ㄨㄚˇ ㄑㄩㄢˊ
  • Mandarin
    • (Standard Chinese, Mainland)+
      • Hanyu Pinyin: nìngkě yùsuì, bùnéng wǎquán
      • Zhuyin: ㄋㄧㄥˋ ㄎㄜˇ ㄩˋ ㄙㄨㄟˋ , ㄅㄨˋ ㄋㄥˊ ㄨㄚˇ ㄑㄩㄢˊ
      • Tongyong Pinyin: nìngkě yùsuèi, bùnéng wǎcyuán
      • Wade–Giles: ning4-kʻo3 yü4-sui4, pu4-nêng2 wa3-chʻüan2
      • Yale: nìng-kě yù-swèi-, bù-néng wǎ-chywán
      • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: ninqkee yuhsuey, buneng woachyuan
      • Palladius: нинкэ юйсуй, бунэн вацюань (ninkɛ jujsuj, bunɛn vacjuanʹ)
      • Sinological IPA (key): /niŋ⁵¹ kʰɤ²¹⁴⁻²¹ y⁵¹⁻⁵³ su̯eɪ̯⁵¹⁻⁵³ pu⁵¹ nɤŋ³⁵ wä²¹⁴⁻²¹ t͡ɕʰy̯ɛn³⁵/
    • (Standard Chinese, Taiwan)+
      • Hanyu Pinyin: níngkě yùsuì, bùnéng wǎquán
      • Zhuyin: ㄋㄧㄥˊ ㄎㄜˇ ㄩˋ ㄙㄨㄟˋ , ㄅㄨˋ ㄋㄥˊ ㄨㄚˇ ㄑㄩㄢˊ
      • Tongyong Pinyin: níngkě yùsuèi, bùnéng wǎcyuán
      • Wade–Giles: ning2-kʻo3 yü4-sui4, pu4-nêng2 wa3-chʻüan2
      • Yale: níng-kě yù-swèi-, bù-néng wǎ-chywán
      • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: ningkee yuhsuey, buneng woachyuan
      • Palladius: нинкэ юйсуй, бунэн вацюань (ninkɛ jujsuj, bunɛn vacjuanʹ)
      • Sinological IPA (key): /niŋ³⁵ kʰɤ²¹⁴⁻²¹ y⁵¹⁻⁵³ su̯eɪ̯⁵¹⁻⁵³ pu⁵¹ nɤŋ³⁵ wä²¹⁴⁻²¹ t͡ɕʰy̯ɛn³⁵/

Proverb

寧可玉碎，不能瓦全

  1. Dying an honourable death is better than living a dishonourable life

Synonyms
  • 寧為玉碎，不為瓦全／宁为玉碎，不为瓦全

Derived terms
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