Literally 'younger brother and son' — reflecting the Confucian view that a master's students are like family. The student-teacher bond was considered as sacred as parent-child.
The master passed on his kung fu to his disciples.
Tips
culture
The saying 一日为师，终身为父 (yí rì wéi shī, zhōngshēn wéi fù — 'a teacher for one day is a father for life') captures why 弟子 carries such weight. In martial arts and traditional crafts, the master-disciple relationship is still taken very seriously.
