be contented in poverty and devoted to things spiritual(jūn zǐ gù qióng)

A gentleman is poor, a villain is poor

The synonym junzi guqiong generally refers to junzi guqiong, villain is poor, junzi guqiong, villain is poor, is a Chinese word, pronunciation J ū NZ ǐ g ù Qi ó ng, meaning that a gentleman will stick to his inner integrity even in adversity. It means that a gentleman can be poor and honest. From the Analects of Confucius, the Duke of Wei Ling.

words whose meaning is similar

Live in peace and contentment

pronunciation

jūnzǐgùqióng

interpretation

Even in adversity, a gentleman will stick to his inner integrity. It means that a gentleman can be poor and honest.

Original 1

In Chen Jue Liang, the follower is ill, and Mo Neng Xing is ill. Zi Lu said, "is a gentleman poor?" Confucius said: "the gentleman is solid and poor, the villain is poor and extravagant."

notes

① Disease: originally refers to serious illness, here extended to "fatigue, hardship" (2) Prosperity: rise (3) sulk: indignation, unhappiness (4) poverty: failure, here refers to the end of the road, into a desperate situation. (5) be firm and secure. (6) be poor and extravagant. To commit a crime

Original 2

Confucius moved to Cai at the age of three, and Wu defeated Chen. Chu saves Chen, the army in the city father. When he heard that Confucius was idle in Chen and CAI, Chu sent people to hire him. When Confucius was going to pay homage to the emperor, Doctor Chen and Cai said, "Confucius, the sage, all his criticisms are the diseases of the princes. Today, I have been staying in Chen Cai's leisure for a long time, and the actions set by the doctors are not what Zhong Ni meant. Now Chu, a big country, has come to hire Confucius. When Confucius was used in Chu, it was dangerous for Chen and CAI to serve as officials. " So he and his disciples surrounded Confucius in the wild. No, no food. From the disease, Mo Nengxing. Confucius never fails to recite string songs. Zilu sullen see said: "gentleman also have poor?" Confucius said: "the gentleman is poor, the villain is poor, and there are too many." note: from historical records · Confucius family

translation

Confucius cut off food in the state of Chen, and all the people who followed him were hungry and sick, so they could not get up. Zilu angrily saw Confucius and said, "is there a time when a gentleman is poor?" Confucius said: "even if a gentleman is at a dead end, he still abides by his moral integrity and duty. When a villain is in adversity, he is easy to daydream and act recklessly."

Relevant information

Here, according to Professor Yi Zhongtian, there is another way to say "poverty" of "solid poverty", that is, "there is no way to go". In ancient times, the poor and the rich were relative, the expensive and the cheap were relative, and the poor and the rich were corresponding. A gentleman has no way to go. It's more clear that it's hard for a gentleman to go on his way, but he still has to go on, otherwise he's a villain. Meng Zhi's point of view: in ancient Chinese, "poor" and "poor" have different meanings. In modern Chinese, "poor" refers to poverty and lack of money, while "poor" is opposite to "Da", which means no official position or fame. A gentleman in poverty can be understood as (in the dark political environment) adhering to his own values and moral integrity, not following the tide and "not bending down for five Dou of rice". to understand "poor" here, we should refer to the ancient meaning, according to the context at that time (Confucius traveled all over the world, surrounded in the wild at the junction of Chen and CAI, and had no food), and at the end of the road.

Chinese PinYin : jūn zǐ gù qióng