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捨生取義

简舍生取义 · 繁捨生取義

Mandarin · pinyin shě shēng qǔ yì

to give up life for righteousness (idiom, from Mencius)
to choose honor over life; would rather sacrifice one's life than one's principles

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Characters in this entry

捨: Look up this written character
生: shēng · life, living, lifetime; birth
取: qǔ · take, receive, obtain; select
義: Look up this written character
舍: shě · shè · house, dwelling; dwell, reside
义: yì · right conduct, righteousness

Written characters and their own readings; the entry’s pronunciation is shown above.

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Mandarin tones

3–1–3–4 · she3 sheng1 qu3 yi4

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Read this spelling in Classical texts

Follow a written form into the eight pinned witnesses: Analects, Mencius, Laozi, Zhuangzi, Xunzi, Han Feizi, Sunzi and the Mao Shijing. A match is a place to investigate; it does not prove that a modern dictionary sense fits the passage.

捨生取義 · find source passages ↗ · 舍生取义 · find source passages ↗

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Compare dictionary sources Wiktionary · 1 sense · 1 Cantonese reading

Rime Cantonese 粵拼

se2 sang1 ceoi2 ji6

Cantonese word readings for 捨生取義. This lexicon supplies readings, not definitions.

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Wiktionary English definitions · Chinese section

Independent source senses for this spelling, with usage labels retained. Not matched to the pronunciation above.

phrase

(idiomatic) to die to achieve virtue; to die for a just cause

Source page · dump 2026-09-02 · Contributors & history

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