獨樂樂不如眾樂樂

Chinese

		alone; independent; single alone; independent; single; sole; only	to play music	happiness; joy; pleasure	to be not like; to be not equal to; to be not as good as to be not like; to be not equal to; to be not as good as; cannot compare to; to be inferior to	numerous; multitude; crowd	to play music	happiness; joy; pleasure
trad. (獨樂樂不如眾樂樂/獨樂樂不如衆樂樂)		獨	樂	樂	不如	眾/衆	樂	樂
simp. (独乐乐不如众乐乐)		独	乐	乐	不如	众	乐	乐
Literally: “the joy of playing music alone is not as good as the joy of playing music together”.

Etymology

From Mencius (《孟子·梁惠王下》):

曰：「獨樂樂，與人樂樂，孰樂？」曰：「不若與人。」
曰：「與少樂樂，與眾樂樂，孰樂？」曰：「不若與眾。」 [Traditional Chinese poetry, trad.]

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曰：「独乐乐，与人乐乐，孰乐？」曰：「不若与人。」
曰：「与少乐乐，与众乐乐，孰乐？」曰：「不若与众。」 [Traditional Chinese poetry, simp.]

From: Mencius, c. 4^th century BCE, translated based on James Legge's version

Yuē: “Dú yuè lè, yǔ rén yuè lè, shú lè?” Yuē: “Bùruò yǔ rén.”
Yuē: “Yǔ shǎo yuè lè, yǔ zhòng yuè lè, shú lè?” Yuē: “Bùruò yǔ zhòng.” [Pinyin]

Mencius asked, "Which is the more pleasant - to enjoy music by yourself alone, or to enjoy it with others?" "To enjoy it with others," was the reply.
"And which is the more pleasant - to enjoy music with a few, or to enjoy it with many?" "To enjoy it with many."

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): dú yuè lè bùrú zhòng yuè lè

  (Zhuyin): ㄉㄨˊ ㄩㄝˋ ㄌㄜˋ ㄅㄨˋ ㄖㄨˊ ㄓㄨㄥˋ ㄩㄝˋ ㄌㄜˋ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): duk⁶ ngok⁶ lok⁶ bat¹ jyu⁴ zung³ ngok⁶ lok⁶

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: dú yuè lè bùrú zhòng yuè lè
    • Zhuyin: ㄉㄨˊ ㄩㄝˋ ㄌㄜˋ ㄅㄨˋ ㄖㄨˊ ㄓㄨㄥˋ ㄩㄝˋ ㄌㄜˋ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: dú yuè lè bùrú jhòng yuè lè
    • Wade–Giles: tu² yüeh⁴ lê⁴ pu⁴-ju² chung⁴ yüeh⁴ lê⁴
    • Yale: dú ywè lè bù-rú jùng ywè lè
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: dwu yueh leh buru jonq yueh leh
    • Palladius: ду юэ лэ бужу чжун юэ лэ (du jue lɛ bužu čžun jue lɛ)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /tu³⁵ ɥɛ⁵¹⁻⁵³ lɤ⁵¹⁻⁵³ pu⁵¹ ʐu³⁵ ʈ͡ʂʊŋ⁵¹⁻⁵³ ɥɛ⁵¹⁻⁵³ lɤ⁵¹/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: duk⁶ ngok⁶ lok⁶ bat¹ jyu⁴ zung³ ngok⁶ lok⁶
    • Yale: duhk ngohk lohk bāt yùh jung ngohk lohk
    • Cantonese Pinyin: duk⁹ ngok⁹ lok⁹ bat⁷ jy⁴ dzung³ ngok⁹ lok⁹
    • Guangdong Romanization: dug⁶ ngog⁶ log⁶ bed¹ yu⁴ zung³ ngog⁶ log⁶
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /tʊk̚² ŋɔːk̚² lɔːk̚² pɐt̚⁵ jyː²¹ t͡sʊŋ³³ ŋɔːk̚² lɔːk̚²/

Phrase

獨樂樂不如眾樂樂

1. It is much more joyful to share the joy than enjoy alone.