无恻隐之心

無惻隱之心

wúcèyǐnzhīxīn

phrase

Meanings

1 without a heart of compassion (is not human)
2 (fig.) lacking the basic pity that Mencius held to be innate in every human being
3 (lit.) without compassion-pity's heart

Characters

hidden sorrow (恻隐 = compassion)

之

zhī

's (classical possessive)

心

xīn

heart

Examples

看见孩子落水而不去救，真是无恻隐之心。

Kànjiàn háizi luò shuǐ ér bù qù jiù, zhēn shì wú cèyǐn zhī xīn.

Seeing a child fall into the water and not rushing to save them — that is truly 'lacking a heart of compassion.'

孟子说无恻隐之心，非人也。

Mèngzǐ shuō wú cèyǐn zhī xīn, fēi rén yě.

Mencius said: 'without a heart of compassion, one is not human.'

Tips

history

From 《孟子·公孙丑上》(Mencius, Gongsun Chou I, c. 300 BCE), the famous Four Sprouts (四端) passage: 无恻隐之心，非人也；无羞恶之心，非人也；无辞让之心，非人也；无是非之心，非人也 (Without a heart of compassion, one is not human; without a heart of shame and aversion, not human; without a heart of deference, not human; without a heart of right and wrong, not human). Mencius grounds his theory of innate human goodness on these four moral sprouts.

usage

Reading: 恻 = cè ('sorrowful / pitying'), uncommon character. The phrase is usually quoted together with the follow-up 非人也 ('is not human'). Referenced in ethics, law, and social-commentary writing.

Stroke Order

无 wú

恻 cè

隐 yǐn

之 zhī

心 xīn