鳏寡孤独废疾者皆有所养

鰥寡孤獨廢疾者皆有所養

guānguǎgūdúfèijízhějiēyǒusuǒyǎng

phrase

Meanings

1 widowers, widows, orphans, the childless, the disabled and the sick — all are provided for
2 a society where the vulnerable are cared for by the community
3 classical blueprint of the 'Great Harmony' welfare ideal

Characters

to be supported / cared for

Examples

孔子理想中的大同社会，鳏寡孤独废疾者皆有所养。

Kǒngzǐ lǐxiǎng zhōng de dàtóng shèhuì, guān guǎ gū dú fèi jí zhě jiē yǒu suǒ yǎng.

In Confucius's ideal of the Great Harmony, the widowed, orphaned, childless, disabled and sick are all cared for.

现代社会保障的根本目标仍然是鳏寡孤独废疾者皆有所养。

Xiàndài shèhuì bǎozhàng de gēnběn mùbiāo réngrán shì guān guǎ gū dú fèi jí zhě jiē yǒu suǒ yǎng.

The fundamental goal of modern social welfare is still that 'widowers, widows, orphans, the childless, disabled and sick are all provided for.'

Tips

history

From 《礼记·礼运》 (Book of Rites, 'Liyun') — the Great Harmony (大同) passage: 使老有所终，壮有所用，幼有所长，矜（鳏）寡孤独废疾者皆有所养 — 'Let the aged have their peaceful end, the strong have their employment, the young have their nurture; and widowers, widows, orphans, childless elders, the disabled and the sick — all have their support.' The canonical Confucian vision of an ideal welfare society.

usage

Key vocab: 鳏 (guān) widower, 寡 (guǎ) widow, 孤 (gū) orphan, 独 (dú) childless elder, 废 (fèi) disabled, 疾 (jí) sick. The four characters 鳏寡孤独 still survive as a compound meaning 'the isolated and unsupported.' The whole 大同 passage is foundational to Chinese political philosophy from the Han dynasty to Sun Yat-sen's nationalism.

Stroke Order

鳏 guān

寡 guǎ

孤 gū

独 dú

废 fèi

疾 jí

者 zhě

皆 jiē

有 yǒu

所 suǒ

养 yǎng