📖 Meaning
To put one's own household in order before undertaking the governance of the state. In Confucian thought, the discipline of the family is the foundation for ruling the country. It stresses that effective state governance must begin with proper conduct within the home.
📜 Origin Story
The idiom comes from the Great Learning (《礼记·大学》), one of the Four Books of Confucianism, traditionally linked to Confucius (551–479 BC) and his school. The text reads: 'To govern the state one must first regulate one's family; if one cannot teach one's own family, how can one teach others?' It embodies the Confucian sequence of self-cultivation (修身), family regulation (齐家), state governance (治国), and bringing peace to all under heaven (平天下). Over the centuries it became a core ideal of Chinese political and moral philosophy.
💡 Example Usage
齐家治国是古代读书人毕生追求的理想。
Regulating the family and governing the state was the lifelong ideal pursued by scholars in ancient times.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 齐家治国
- Pinyin: qí jiā zhì guó
- Literal Translation: regulate family, govern state
- Category: Leadership
- Characters: 4