Wèile jiù cūnmín, tā shěshēng-qǔyì, zhìjīn shòudào hòurén de jìniàn.
He gave his life to save the villagers, and later generations still honor his memory.
Tips
history
From 《孟子·告子上》: if life and righteousness cannot both be had, Mencius says he would 舍生而取义 "give up life and take righteousness". The passage opens with the fish-and-bear's-paw comparison that gave us 二者不可得兼.
usage
Praise of the highest kind, for martyrs and heroes. 杀身成仁 "to die to achieve virtue", from the Analects, is its Confucian twin; 舍生忘死 "with no thought for one's own life" praises courage without the moral cause.
