📖 Meaning
To be dutifully filial to one's parents when at home, and to treat elders with the same respect one would show an elder brother when out in the world. It encapsulates the Confucian ideal that moral conduct begins within the family and extends outward into society.
📜 Origin Story
The idiom originates from the Analects of Confucius (《论语·学而》), where Confucius instructs his disciples: 'A young man should be filial when at home and respectful to elders when abroad' (弟子入则孝，出则悌). The character 弟 (tì) is an ancient loan character for 悌, meaning fraternal deference. The phrase was later popularized as a set idiom by the Song dynasty Neo-Confucian scholar Zhu Xi (朱熹) in his preface to Elementary Learning (《小学》题辞), where he prescribed it as a core principle of childhood moral education.
💡 Example Usage
修身之道，首在入孝出弟，然后方可论济世安民。
The path of self-cultivation begins with filial piety at home and fraternal respect abroad; only then can one speak of benefiting the world and bringing peace to the people.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 入孝出弟
- Pinyin: rù xiào chū tì
- Literal Translation: enter, filial piety, go out, fraternal respect
- Category: Morality
- Characters: 4