己任

jǐrèn
noun #34,728

Meanings

  1. 1 one's own duty
  2. 2 personal responsibility

Examples

Tā yǐ zhènxīng jiāxiāng wéi jǐrèn.
He has made revitalizing his hometown his own mission.
Jiàoshī yǐ yùrén wéi jǐrèn.
Teachers take educating people as their personal duty.

Tips

grammar
Almost always seen in the literary frame 己任 ('to take X as one's own duty'). Plug a verb phrase into the slot: 天下己任 (take the world as one's duty), 己任, 教书人为己任.
history
The frame echoes 《论语·》: 不可以为己任? ('A scholar must be broad-minded and resolute, for his burden is heavy and his road is long. He takes humanity as his duty — is that not weighty?'). The Confucian root explains the phrase's serious moral tone.

Stroke Order

rèn