君子は周して比せず小人は比して周せず

Japanese

Kanji in this term
君	子	周	比	小	人	比	周
くん Grade: 3	し Grade: 1	しゅう Grade: 4	ひ Grade: 5	しょう Grade: 1	じん Grade: 1	ひ Grade: 5	しゅう Grade: 4

Etymology

Calque of Literary Chinese 君子周而不比，小人比而不周.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [kɯ̟̃ᵝɰ̃ɕi ɰᵝa̠ ɕɨᵝːɕite̞ çise̞zɨᵝ ɕo̞ːʑĩɰ̃ ɰᵝa̠ çiɕite̞ ɕɨᵝːse̞zɨᵝ]

Proverb

君(くん)子(し)は周(しゅう)して比(ひ)せず小(しょう)人(じん)は比(ひ)して周(しゅう)せず • (kunshi wa shūshite hisezu shōjin wa hishite shūsezu) 

1. A gentleman encompasses all and remains impartial. A petty mind is partial and does not encompass all. That is, a gentleman shows kindness to all with fairness, but a petty person is only kind to a few friends.

References

• The Kōjien (広辞苑) Dictionary of the Japanese Language, 5th edition, Iwanami Shoten Publishing, Tokyo.