以德報怨

Chinese

		to use; according to; so as to to use; according to; so as to; in order to; by; with; because; Israel (abbrev.)	Germany; virtue; goodness Germany; virtue; goodness; morality; ethics; kindness; favour; character; kind	to avenge a grievance
trad. (以德報怨)		以	德	報怨
simp. (以德报怨)		以	德	报怨
anagram		以怨報德／以怨报德

Etymology

From the Analects, Book 14 (《論語·憲問》):

或曰：「以德報怨，何如？」子曰：「何以報德？以直報怨，以德報德。」 [Classical Chinese, trad.]

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或曰：「以德报怨，何如？」子曰：「何以报德？以直报怨，以德报德。」 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: The Analects of Confucius, c. 475 – 221 BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

Huòyuē: “Yǐ dé bào yuàn, hérú?” Zǐ yuē: “Héyǐ bàodé? Yǐ zhí bào yuàn, yǐ dé bào dé.” [Pinyin]

Some one said, "What do you say concerning the principle that injury should be recompensed with kindness?" The Master said, "With what then will you recompense kindness? Recompense injury with justice, and recompense kindness with kindness."

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): yǐdébàoyuàn

  (Zhuyin): ㄧˇ ㄉㄜˊ ㄅㄠˋ ㄩㄢˋ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): ji⁵ dak¹ bou³ jyun³

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: yǐdébàoyuàn
    • Zhuyin: ㄧˇ ㄉㄜˊ ㄅㄠˋ ㄩㄢˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: yǐdébàoyuàn
    • Wade–Giles: i³-tê²-pao⁴-yüan⁴
    • Yale: yǐ-dé-bàu-ywàn
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: yiiderbawyuann
    • Palladius: идэбаоюань (idɛbaojuanʹ)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /i²¹⁴⁻²¹ tɤ³⁵ pɑʊ̯⁵¹⁻⁵³ ɥɛn⁵¹/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: ji⁵ dak¹ bou³ jyun³
    • Yale: yíh dāk bou yun
    • Cantonese Pinyin: ji⁵ dak⁷ bou³ jyn³
    • Guangdong Romanization: yi⁵ deg¹ bou³ yun³
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /jiː¹³ tɐk̚⁵ pou̯³³ jyːn³³/

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• Middle Chinese: yiX tok pawH 'jwon|'jwonH

Rime
Character	以	德	報	怨	怨
Reading #	1/1	1/1	1/1	1/2	2/2
Initial (聲)	以 (36)	端 (5)	幫 (1)	影 (34)	影 (34)
Final (韻)	之 (19)	德 (131)	豪 (89)	元 (66)	元 (66)
Tone (調)	Rising (X)	Checked (Ø)	Departing (H)	Level (Ø)	Departing (H)
Openness (開合)	Open	Open	Open	Closed	Closed
Division (等)	III	I	I	III	III
Fanqie	羊己切	多則切	博耗切	於袁切	於願切
Baxter	yiX	tok	pawH	'jwon	'jwonH
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/jɨX/	/tək̚/	/pɑuH/	/ʔʉɐn/	/ʔʉɐnH/
Pan Wuyun	/jɨX/	/tək̚/	/pɑuH/	/ʔʷiɐn/	/ʔʷiɐnH/
Shao Rongfen	/ieX/	/tək̚/	/pɑuH/	/ʔiuɐn/	/ʔiuɐnH/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/jɨX/	/tək̚/	/pawH/	/ʔuan/	/ʔuanH/
Li Rong	/iəX/	/tək̚/	/pɑuH/	/ʔiuɐn/	/ʔiuɐnH/
Wang Li	/jĭəX/	/tək̚/	/pɑuH/	/ĭwɐn/	/ĭwɐnH/
Bernard Karlgren	/iX/	/tək̚/	/pɑuH/	/ʔi̯wɐn/	/ʔi̯wɐnH/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	yǐ	de	bào	yuān	yuàn
Expected Cantonese Reflex	ji5	dak1	bou3	jyun1	jyun3

• Old Chinese

  (Baxter–Sagart): /*ləʔ  tˤək  pˤuk-s  [ʔ]o[r]-s/

  (Zhengzhang): /*lɯʔ  tɯːɡ  puːɡs  qon|qons/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	以	德	報	怨
Reading #	1/1	1/1	1/1	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	yǐ	dé	bào	yuàn
Middle Chinese	‹ yiX ›	‹ tok ›	‹ pawH ›	‹ ʔjwonH ›
Old Chinese	/*ləʔ/	/*tˁək/	/*pˁuk-s/	/*[ʔ]o[r]-s/
English	take, use	virtue	repay	resentment
Notes for Old Chinese notations in the Baxter–Sagart system: * Parentheses "()" indicate uncertain presence; * Square brackets "[]" indicate uncertain identity, e.g. *[t] as coda may in fact be *-t or *-p; * Angle brackets "<>" indicate infix; * Hyphen "-" indicates morpheme boundary; * Period "." indicates syllable boundary.

Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character	以	德	報	怨	怨
Reading #	1/1	1/1	1/1	1/2	2/2
No.	14929	17266	329	16286	16305
Phonetic component	以	直	報	夗	夗
Rime group	之	職	奧	元	元
Rime subdivision	0	0	1	3	3
Corresponding MC rime	以	德	報	鴛	怨
Old Chinese	/*lɯʔ/	/*tɯːɡ/	/*puːɡs/	/*qon/	/*qons/

Idiom

以德報怨

1. to return good for evil; to return kindness for injury

See also

• 以怨報德／以怨报德 (yǐyuànbàodé)
• 以直報怨／以直报怨 (yǐzhíbàoyuàn)
• 以德報德／以德报德 (yǐdébàodé)