貧賤不能移

Chinese

		poor and lowly	cannot; must not; should not cannot; must not; should not; to be unable to; to fail to	to move; to shift; to change to move; to shift; to change; to alter; to remove
trad. (貧賤不能移)		貧賤	不能	移
simp. (贫贱不能移)		贫贱	不能	移

Etymology

From Mencius:

富貴不能淫，貧賤不能移，威武不能屈。此之謂大丈夫。 [Traditional Chinese poetry, trad.]

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富贵不能淫，贫贱不能移，威武不能屈。此之谓大丈夫。 [Traditional Chinese poetry, simp.]

From: Mencius, c. 4^th century BCE

Fùguì bùnéng yín, pínjiàn bùnéng yí, wēiwǔ bùnéng qū. Cǐ zhī wèi dàzhàngfū. [Pinyin]

To be above the power of riches and honours to make dissipated, of poverty and mean condition to make swerve from principle, and of power and force to make bend - these characteristics constitute the great man.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): pínjiànbùnéngyí

  (Zhuyin): ㄆㄧㄣˊ ㄐㄧㄢˋ ㄅㄨˋ ㄋㄥˊ ㄧˊ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): pan⁴ zin⁶ bat¹ nang⁴ ji⁴

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: pínjiànbùnéngyí
    • Zhuyin: ㄆㄧㄣˊ ㄐㄧㄢˋ ㄅㄨˋ ㄋㄥˊ ㄧˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: pínjiànbùnéngyí
    • Wade–Giles: pʻin²-chien⁴-pu⁴-nêng²-i²
    • Yale: pín-jyàn-bù-néng-yí
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: pynjiannbunengyi
    • Palladius: пиньцзяньбунэнъи (pinʹczjanʹbunɛnʺi)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /pʰin³⁵ t͡ɕi̯ɛn⁵¹⁻⁵³ pu⁵¹ nɤŋ³⁵ i³⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: pan⁴ zin⁶ bat¹ nang⁴ ji⁴
    • Yale: pàhn jihn bāt nàhng yìh
    • Cantonese Pinyin: pan⁴ dzin⁶ bat⁷ nang⁴ ji⁴
    • Guangdong Romanization: pen⁴ jin⁶ bed¹ neng⁴ yi⁴
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /pʰɐn²¹ t͡siːn²² pɐt̚⁵ nɐŋ²¹ jiː²¹/

Phrase

貧賤不能移

1. to remain morally upright even when destitute

Proverb

貧賤不能移

1. (neologism) Poor people lack the chance to emigrate, thus suffer from the social problems in their home country more than rich people.