📖 Meaning
To revere the elderly and show compassion for those living in hardship. It describes a person of gracious, kindly virtue who honors age and tends to the needy. The phrase is used to praise noble moral character and charitable conduct.
📜 Origin Story
The phrase comes from the Yuan dynasty anonymous play Liu Hong Marries Off the Maid (刘弘嫁婢), Act Four. In the story, the deity arranges for his daughter Guihua to be wed to Qitong, explaining that the match was granted because the recipient showed care for orphans and widows, respected the old and pitied the poor. Such virtue was said to have moved Heaven and Earth, prompting divine reward. The idiom thus encodes the traditional Chinese belief that compassion for the weak brings heavenly favor.
💡 Example Usage
这位乡绅一生敬老怜贫，深得乡里敬重。
The squire spent his life honoring the old and caring for the poor, earning the deep respect of his community.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 敬老怜贫
- Pinyin: jìng lǎo lián pín
- Literal Translation: respect the old, have compassion for the poor
- Category: Morality
- Characters: 4