人不犯我，我不犯人

Chinese

		man; person; people	not; no	to violate; to offend	I; me		I; me	not; no	to violate; to offend	man; person; people
simp. and trad. (人不犯我，我不犯人)		人	不	犯	我	，	我	不	犯	人

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): rén bù fàn wǒ, wǒ bù fàn rén

  (Zhuyin): ㄖㄣˊ ㄅㄨˋ ㄈㄢˋ ㄨㄛˇ , ㄨㄛˇ ㄅㄨˋ ㄈㄢˋ ㄖㄣˊ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): jan⁴ bat¹ faan⁶ ngo⁵, ngo⁵ bat¹ faan⁶ jan⁴

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: rén bù fàn wǒ, wǒ bù fàn rén [Phonetic: rén bú fàn wǒ, wǒ bú fàn rén]
    • Zhuyin: ㄖㄣˊ ㄅㄨˋ ㄈㄢˋ ㄨㄛˇ , ㄨㄛˇ ㄅㄨˋ ㄈㄢˋ ㄖㄣˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: rén bù fàn wǒ, wǒ bù fàn rén
    • Wade–Giles: jên² pu⁴ fan⁴ wo³, wo³ pu⁴ fan⁴ jên²
    • Yale: rén bù fàn wǒ-, wǒ bù fàn rén
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: ren bu fann woo, woo bu fann ren
    • Palladius: жэнь бу фань во, во бу фань жэнь (žɛnʹ bu fanʹ vo, vo bu fanʹ žɛnʹ)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ʐən³⁵ pu⁵¹⁻³⁵ fän⁵¹ wɔ²¹⁴⁻³⁵ wɔ²¹⁴⁻²¹ pu⁵¹⁻³⁵ fän⁵¹ ʐən³⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: jan⁴ bat¹ faan⁶ ngo⁵, ngo⁵ bat¹ faan⁶ jan⁴
    • Yale: yàhn bāt faahn ngóh, ngóh bāt faahn yàhn
    • Cantonese Pinyin: jan⁴ bat⁷ faan⁶ ngo⁵, ngo⁵ bat⁷ faan⁶ jan⁴
    • Guangdong Romanization: yen⁴ bed¹ fan⁶ ngo⁵, ngo⁵ bed¹ fan⁶ yen⁴
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /jɐn²¹ pɐt̚⁵ faːn²² ŋɔː¹³ ŋɔː¹³ pɐt̚⁵ faːn²² jɐn²¹/

Idiom

人不犯我，我不犯人

1. If people don’t attack me, I won’t attack them.

   • 這也難，我少年、中學時代，也是一聽到壞話就一肚子氣，人不犯我，我不犯人，人若犯我，我必犯人，人先犯我，我後犯人，這個原則，現在也不放棄。現在學會了聽，硬著頭皮頂住，聽他一個、兩個星期，再反擊。 [MSC, trad.]
     这也难，我少年、中学时代，也是一听到坏话就一肚子气，人不犯我，我不犯人，人若犯我，我必犯人，人先犯我，我后犯人，这个原则，现在也不放弃。现在学会了听，硬着头皮顶住，听他一个、两个星期，再反击。 [MSC, simp.]

     From: 1959, Mao Zedong at Lushan Conference

     Zhè yě nán, wǒ shàonián, zhōngxué shídài, yěshì yī tīng dào huàihuà jiù yī dùzǐ qì, rén bù fàn wǒ, wǒ bù fàn rén, rén ruò fàn wǒ, wǒ bì fàn rén, rén xiān fàn wǒ, wǒ hòu fàn rén, zhè ge yuánzé, xiànzài yě bù fàngqì. Xiànzài xuéhuì le tīng, yìngzhùtóupí dǐng zhù, tīng tā yī ge, liǎng ge xīngqī, zài fǎnjī. [Pinyin]

     When I was a boy, and when I was in middle school, I used to get all steamed up whenever I heard unpleasant things [about myself]. If people don’t attack me, I won’t attack them. If people attack me, I will certainly attack them. They attack me first, I attack them later. This principle I have never abandoned down to the present time. Now I have learnt to listen, to toughen my scalp and listen for one or two weeks and then counter-attack.

Antonyms

• 人若犯我，我必犯人 (“If people attack me, I will certainly attack them.”)