忧民之忧者

憂民之憂者

yōu mín zhī yōu zhě

quotation

Meanings

1 one who grieves over the people's griefs
2 a ruler who takes the people's worries as his own
3 (lit.) one who worries over the people's worries

Characters

worry / grieve over

's (possessive)

Examples

HSK 7-9

做官首先得是忧民之忧者，然后才能乐民之乐。

Zuò guān shǒuxiān děi shì yōumínzhīyōuzhě, ránhòu cáinéng lè mín zhī lè.

An official must first worry over the people's worries - only then may he rejoice in their joys.

HSK 7-9

他是真正的忧民之忧者，见不得百姓受苦。

Tā shì zhēnzhèng de yōumínzhīyōuzhě, jiànbudé bǎixìng shòukǔ.

He truly grieves over the people's griefs - he can't bear to see ordinary folk suffer.

Tips

history

From 《孟子·梁惠王下》 (Mencius: King Hui of Liang II). Full parallel: 乐民之乐者，民亦乐其乐；忧民之忧者，民亦忧其忧。乐以天下，忧以天下 - a Mencian template for benevolent rule. The later Song-dynasty line 先天下之忧而忧，后天下之乐而乐 by Fan Zhongyan (范仲淹) in 《岳阳楼记》 directly descends from this.

usage

Paired with 民亦忧其忧 as the setup-and-payoff structure. The 之 between 忧 and 忧 is the classical possessive ('of'), making the whole a nominalized phrase: 'one-who-worries-over-the-people's-worries.'

Stroke Order

忧 yōu

民 mín

之 zhī

者 zhě