📖 Meaning
To be poor yet refuse to flatter or curry favor with others. It describes someone who maintains dignity and integrity despite poverty. The idiom praises self-respect and moral backbone in difficult circumstances.
📜 Origin Story
The phrase originates from the Analects (论语) of the Spring and Autumn period, in a dialogue between Confucius and his disciple Zigong (子贡). Zigong asked whether one who is poor without being servile, and rich without being arrogant, could be considered virtuous. Confucius acknowledged this as acceptable but urged a higher ideal: to be poor yet delight in the Way, and rich yet respectful of propriety. The phrase has since stood as a classical standard for moral integrity amid hardship.
💡 Example Usage
他虽家境贫寒，却贫而无谄，从不向权贵低头。
Though his family was poor, he remained poor without being servile and never bowed to the powerful.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 贫而无谄
- Pinyin: pín ér wú chǎn
- Literal Translation: poor, yet, without, flattery
- Category: Morality
- Characters: 4