不可使知之

bùkěshǐzhīzhī

phrase

Meanings

1 cannot be made to understand it
2 they cannot be made to know the reasons
3 second half of a controversial line from Confucius' Analects

Characters

to make / cause

it (object pronoun)

Examples

"民可使由之，不可使知之"这句话历来争议很大。

'Mín kě shǐ yóu zhī, bù kě shǐ zhī zhī' zhè jù huà lìlái zhēngyì hěn dà.

The line 'the people can be led to follow, but cannot be made to understand' has always been controversial.

有学者主张标点应作"民可使，由之；不可使，知之"，与"不可使知之"的传统读法截然不同。

Yǒu xuézhě zhǔzhāng biāodiǎn yīng zuò 'mín kě shǐ, yóu zhī; bù kě shǐ, zhī zhī', yǔ 'bù kě shǐ zhī zhī' de chuántǒng dúfǎ jiérán bùtóng.

Some scholars argue for the punctuation 'if they can be employed, let them follow; if not, enlighten them,' sharply different from the traditional reading.

Stroke Order

不 bù

可 kě

使 shǐ

知 zhī

之 zhī