📖 Meaning
To have done everything possible out of benevolence and righteousness. It describes a situation where one's goodwill, kindness, and help have been extended to the utmost limit, leaving nothing more to be done.
📜 Origin Story
The phrase originates from the Book of Rites (《礼记·郊特牲》), a Confucian classic compiled during the Han dynasty from earlier Zhou-era sources. The text states that the zhà sacrifice (蜡祭), an ancient year-end ritual offering gratitude to all things that aided people through the year, represented 'the utmost of benevolence and the exhaustion of righteousness.' Over time the expression came to signify that one has fulfilled every moral obligation toward another person to the greatest possible degree.
💡 Example Usage
他已经帮了我很多，算是仁至义尽了。
He has already helped me a great deal; he has truly done everything he possibly could.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 仁至义尽
- Pinyin: rén zhì yì jìn
- Literal Translation: benevolence, utmost, righteousness, exhausted
- Category: Morality
- Characters: 4