不為五斗米折腰

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See also: 不为五斗米折腰

Chinese

FWOTD – 7 September 2021
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

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.]
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.]
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!”
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!"

Pronunciation

Idiom

不為五斗米折腰

  1. 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
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