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男女授受不亲

男女授受不親
nánnǚshòushòubùqīn
phrase

Meanings

  1. 1 men and women should not touch hands when passing or receiving things
  2. 2 strict propriety between the sexes
  3. 3 classical rule of gender separation

Examples

古代讲究男女授受不亲，现在已经没人遵守了。
Gǔdài jiǎngjiu nánnǚ shòushòu bù qīn, xiànzài yǐjīng méi rén zūnshǒu le.
The ancients insisted men and women should not touch when handing things over, but nobody follows that today.
他开玩笑说男女授受不亲，不肯让同事帮他拿外卖。
Tā kāi wánxiào shuō nánnǚ shòushòu bù qīn, bù kěn ràng tóngshì bāng tā ná wàimài.
He joked about the old rule that men and women shouldn't touch, refusing to let a female colleague hand him his takeout.

Tips

history
From 《孟子·离娄上》 (Mencius): when asked whether a man should grab his drowning sister-in-law's hand, Mencius answers 男女授受不亲，礼也；嫂溺援之以手，权也 — 'that men and women do not touch when giving or receiving is ritual propriety; extending a hand to a drowning sister-in-law is exigent judgment.' The full passage is usually cited to argue that rules bend to save lives.
usage
授 (give) and 受 (receive) are near-homophones (both shòu). The phrase literally reads 'male-female give-receive not close,' i.e. even in the act of handing something over, the sexes keep their distance.

Stroke Order

男 nán
女 nǚ
授 shòu
受 shòu
不 bù
亲 qīn