捨生取義

See also: 舍生取义

Chinese

give up; abandon
to be born; to give birth; life
to be born; to give birth; life; to grow; student; raw
 
to take; to get; to choose
to take; to get; to choose; to fetch
 
 justice; righteousness; meaning
trad. (捨生取義) 捨 生 取 義
simp. (舍生取义) 舍 生 取 义
alternative forms 舍生取義／舍生取义
Literally: “to sacrifice life for righteousness”.

Etymology

From Mencius (《孟子·告子上》):

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。 [Traditional Chinese poetry, trad.]
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。 [Traditional Chinese poetry, simp.]
From: Mencius, c. 4th century BCE, translated based on James Legge's version
Shēng, yì wǒ suǒ yù yě; yì, yì wǒ suǒ yù yě, èrzhě bùkě dé jiān, shě shēng ér qǔ yì zhě yě. [Pinyin]
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

Idiom

捨生取義

  1. to die to achieve virtue; to die for a just cause

Synonyms

See also

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