悌 (tì) · brotherly respect (Confucian virtue)

Meanings

1 brotherly respect (Confucian virtue)
2 to respect one's elder siblings

Characters

悌

tì

brotherly respect

Examples

HSK 7-9

孝悌是儒家最基本的伦理。

Xiào tì shì Rújiā zuì jīběn de lúnlǐ.

Filial piety and brotherly respect are the most basic Confucian ethics.

HSK 7-9

《论语》说："孝悌也者，其为仁之本与！"

《 Lúnyǔ 》 shuō: " Xiào tì yě zhě, qí wéi rén zhī běn yú! "

The Analects say: "Filial piety and fraternal respect - these are the root of benevolence!"

HSK 7-9

古人讲究孝悌之道。

Gǔrén jiǎngjiū xiào tì zhī dào.

The ancients emphasized the way of filial and brotherly virtue.

Tips

culture

悌 is the sibling virtue of 孝 (filial piety): 孝 flows upward to parents, 悌 flows laterally and upward among siblings. Together 孝悌 form the foundation of Confucian family ethics, explicitly identified in Analects 1.2 as the root of 仁 (benevolence).

memory

Note the structure: 忄 (heart) + 弟 (younger brother) = having the heart of a younger brother - respectful toward older siblings.

Components

radical

忄 xīn

heart (left-side form of 心)

Left-side heart radical, the standing three-stroke form of 心 used on the left edge of characters. The indexing radical - 悌 is one of the cardinal Confucian virtues, brotherly love and respect for elder siblings. The heart radical marks it firmly in the moral-emotion family: 情 feeling, 怀 to cherish, 恭 reverent, 慈 compassionate.

phonetic

弟 dì

younger brother

Right side 弟 supplies the sound: dì to tì with d/t alternation. 弟 also does semantic double duty - the whole character means 'the proper feeling a younger brother has toward the elder.' Without the heart, 弟 is mere kinship; with the heart, it becomes the Confucian virtue. Paired with 孝 filial piety as 孝悌.