披髮左衽

Chinese

brazenly; without restraint; to have hair that is dishevelled garment fastened on the left side
trad. (披髮左衽) 披髮 左衽
simp. (披发左衽) 披发 左衽
alternative forms 被髮左衽／被发左衽

Etymology

From the Analects, Book 14 (《論語·憲問》):

子曰：「管仲相桓公，霸諸侯，一匡天下，民到于今受其賜；微管仲，吾其被髮左衽矣！…… [Traditional Chinese poetry, trad.]
子曰：「管仲相桓公，霸诸侯，一匡天下，民到于今受其赐；微管仲，吾其被发左衽矣！…… [Traditional Chinese poetry, simp.]
From: The Analects of Confucius, c. 475 – 221 BCE, translated based on James Legge's version
Zǐyuē: “Guǎn Zhòng xiàng Huán Gōng, bà zhūhóu, yī kuāng tiānxià, mín dào yú jīn shòu qí cì; wēi Guǎn Zhòng, wú qí bèifà zuǒrèn yǐ!...... [Pinyin]
Guan Zhong acted as prime minister to the duke Huan, made him leader of all the princes, and united and rectified the whole kingdom. Down to the present day, the people enjoy the gifts which he conferred. But for Guan Zhong, we should now be wearing our hair unbound, and the lappets of our coats buttoning on the left side. …

Pronunciation

Idiom

披髮左衽

  1. dress like a barbarian; uncivilised
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.