朝聞道，夕死可矣

Chinese
 
morning; to face; towards
morning; to face; towards; facing; direct; a dynasty; the imperial court; Korea, esp. N. Korea (abbrev.)
 
hear; news; celebrated
hear; news; celebrated; sniff at
 
direction; way; method
direction; way; method; road; path; principle; truth; reason; skill; Tao (of Taoism); a measure word; to say; to speak; to talk
 dusk; evening
 
to die; impassable; uncrossable
to die; impassable; uncrossable; inflexible; rigid
 
can; may; able to
can; may; able to; certain(ly); to suit; (particle used for emphasis)
 final particle
trad. (朝聞道，夕死可矣) 朝 聞 道 ， 夕 死 可 矣
simp. (朝闻道，夕死可矣) 朝 闻 道 ， 夕 死 可 矣

Etymology

From the Analects, Book 4 (《論語·里仁》):

子曰：「朝聞道，夕死可矣。」 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
子曰：「朝闻道，夕死可矣。」 [Classical Chinese, simp.]
From: The Analects of Confucius, c. 475 – 221 BCE, translated based on James Legge's version
Zǐyuē: “Zhāo wén dào, xī sǐ kě yǐ.” [Pinyin]
The Master said, "If a man in the morning hear the right way, he may die in the evening without regret."

Pronunciation

  • Mandarin
    (Pinyin): zhāo wén dào, xī sǐ kě yǐ, zhāo wén dào, xì sǐ kě yǐ
    (Zhuyin): ㄓㄠ ㄨㄣˊ ㄉㄠˋ , ㄒㄧ ㄙˇ ㄎㄜˇ ㄧˇ, ㄓㄠ ㄨㄣˊ ㄉㄠˋ , ㄒㄧˋ ㄙˇ ㄎㄜˇ ㄧˇ
  • Cantonese (Jyutping): ziu1 man4 dou6, zik6 sei2 ho2 ji5
  • Mandarin
    • (Standard Chinese, Mainland)+
      • Hanyu Pinyin: zhāo wén dào, xī sǐ kě yǐ [Phonetic: zhāowéndào,xīsíkéyǐ]
      • Zhuyin: ㄓㄠ ㄨㄣˊ ㄉㄠˋ , ㄒㄧ ㄙˇ ㄎㄜˇ ㄧˇ
      • Tongyong Pinyin: jhao wún dào, si sǐh kě yǐ
      • Wade–Giles: chao1 wên2 tao4, hsi1 ssŭ3 kʻo3 i3
      • Yale: jāu wén dàu-, syī sž kě yǐ
      • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: jau wen daw, shi syy kee yii
      • Palladius: чжао вэнь дао, си сы кэ и (čžao vɛnʹ dao, si sy kɛ i)
      • Sinological IPA (key): /ʈ͡ʂɑʊ̯⁵⁵ wən³⁵ tɑʊ̯⁵¹ ɕi⁵⁵ sz̩²¹⁴⁻³⁵ kʰɤ²¹⁴⁻³⁵ i²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
    • (Standard Chinese, Taiwan)+
      • Hanyu Pinyin: zhāo wén dào, xì sǐ kě yǐ [Phonetic: zhāowéndào,xìsíkéyǐ]
      • Zhuyin: ㄓㄠ ㄨㄣˊ ㄉㄠˋ , ㄒㄧˋ ㄙˇ ㄎㄜˇ ㄧˇ
      • Tongyong Pinyin: jhao wún dào, sì sǐh kě yǐ
      • Wade–Giles: chao1 wên2 tao4, hsi4 ssŭ3 kʻo3 i3
      • Yale: jāu wén dàu-, syì sž kě yǐ
      • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: jau wen daw, shih syy kee yii
      • Palladius: чжао вэнь дао, си сы кэ и (čžao vɛnʹ dao, si sy kɛ i)
      • Sinological IPA (key): /ʈ͡ʂɑʊ̯⁵⁵ wən³⁵ tɑʊ̯⁵¹⁻⁵³ ɕi⁵¹ sz̩²¹⁴⁻³⁵ kʰɤ²¹⁴⁻³⁵ i²¹⁴⁻²¹⁽⁴⁾/
  • Cantonese

Proverb

朝聞道，夕死可矣

  1. if in the morning I were to gain knowledge of the correct path in life, I would be able to die at sunset without regrets

Descendants

  • → Japanese: 朝に道を聞かば夕べに死すとも可なり (ashita ni michi o kikaba yūbe ni shisu tomo ka nari) (calque)
This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.