📖 Meaning
To look after only oneself and pay no heed to others, identical in sense to 独善其身. It describes a self-centered attitude of retreating into one's own comfort and refusing to engage with or help others. The tone is mildly disapproving, implying moral or social neglect.
📜 Origin Story
The underlying expression 独善其身 comes from Mencius (孟子·尽心上, Warring States period): "穷则独善其身，达则兼济天下" (when in adversity, keep one's own self good; when successful, benefit the whole world). The variant 独善吾身 appears in the modern Chinese writer Guo Moruo's (郭沫若) poem 《孤竹君之二子》 in his 1923 poetry collection 《星空》, in the line "我只能离群索居，独善吾身！" The poem retells the story of Boyi and Shuqi, the two sons of the Lord of Guzhu, who withdrew from the world and ultimately starved rather than serve a new dynasty. The idiom thus carries the sense of deliberate withdrawal into solitary self-preservation, stripped of the original Mencian ideal of later benefiting the world.
💡 Example Usage
他只顾独善吾身，从不过问他人死活。
He only cares about his own well-being and never bothers with whether others live or die.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 独善吾身
- Pinyin: dú shàn wú shēn
- Literal Translation: alone, make good, my, self
- Category: Attitude
- Characters: 4