不為五斗米折腰
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See also: 不为五斗米折腰
Chinese[edit]
not; no | because of; for; to because of; for; to; act as; take...to be; to be; to do; to serve as; to become |
five | ladle; dipper; small ladle; dipper; small; big; stars |
rice; metre | to bow in obeisance | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
trad. (不為五斗米折腰/不爲五斗米折腰) | 不 | 為/爲 | 五 | 斗 | 米 | 折腰 | |
simp. (不为五斗米折腰) | 不 | 为 | 五 | 斗 | 米 | 折腰 | |
Literally: “to not bow down for the sake of five pecks (or decalitres) of rice”. |
Etymology[edit]
From the Book of Jin Volume 94 Biographies of Hermits and Recluses "Tao Qian" (《晉書·卷九四·隱逸傳·陶潛》):
- 郡遣督郵至縣,吏白「應束帶見之」,潛歎曰:「吾不能爲五斗米折腰,拳拳事鄉里小人邪!」 [Literary Chinese, trad.]
- From: 648 CE, Fang Xuanling (lead editor), Book of Jin
- Jùn qiǎn dūyóu zhì xiàn, lì bái “yīng shùdài jiàn zhī”, Qián tàn yuē: “Wú bùnéng wèi wǔ dǒu mǐ zhéyāo, quánquán shì xiānglǐ xiǎorén yé!” [Pinyin]
- The commandery sent a postal inspector to the county (where Tao Qian worked as the county magistrate), and an official (subordinate to Tao Qian) suggested: "You should wear formal clothes to see him." Qian sighed: "I cannot bow down for the sake of five pecks of rice and flatter a base person!"
郡遣督邮至县,吏白「应束带见之」,潜叹曰:「吾不能为五斗米折腰,拳拳事乡里小人邪!」 [Literary Chinese, simp.]
Pronunciation[edit]
Idiom[edit]
不為五斗米折腰
- to not compromise one's integrity just to earn a small salary in a dead-end job; to not sacrifice one's ideals in order to make a living