寡廉鮮恥

Chinese

few; widowed uncorrupt; inexpensive few; rare; fresh shame; disgrace
trad. (寡廉鮮恥) 寡 廉 鮮 恥
simp. (寡廉鲜耻) 寡 廉 鲜 耻

Etymology

First attested in 130 B.C.E., in Sima Xiangru's Proclamation on Ba and Shu (《喻巴蜀檄》):

父兄之教不先，子弟之率不謹也；寡廉鮮恥，而俗不長厚也。其被刑戮，不亦宜乎！ [Classical Chinese, trad.]
父兄之教不先，子弟之率不谨也；寡廉鲜耻，而俗不长厚也。其被刑戮，不亦宜乎！ [Classical Chinese, simp.]
From: 130 BCE, 司馬相如,《喻巴蜀檄》, translated by Hans van Ess
Fùxiōng zhī jiào bù xiān, zǐdì zhī shuài bùjǐn yě; guǎ lián xiān chǐ, ér sú bù zhǎnghòu yě. Qí bèi xínglù, bùyì yí hū! [Pinyin]
If the teaching of fathers and elder brothers does not precede, then the obedience of sons and younger brothers will not be sincere; and it also was due to the fact that there was little modesty and almost no shame, and that the customs were not noble and generous. Is it not appropriate that they also suffered from corporal punishment and mutilation?

Pronunciation

Idiom

寡廉鮮恥

  1. to have no sense of shame and integrity
This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.