📖 Meaning
This idiom means being filial to one's parents at home and respectful to one's elder brothers in society. It encapsulates the Confucian ideal of proper conduct within the family extending to proper conduct in the wider world. The phrase emphasizes that moral behavior begins at home and carries outward into all social relationships.
📜 Origin Story
The phrase originates from the Analects (Lunyu), Chapter Xue Er, where Confucius said, 'A young person should be filial at home and respectful to elders abroad.' During the Han Dynasty, the scholar Huan Kuan expanded on this teaching in his work 'Discourses on Salt and Iron' (Yan Tie Lun), arguing that if rulers guided the people with virtue and disciplined them with ritual, everyone would practice filial piety at home and respect for elders abroad, leaving no room for extravagance or arrogance. The saying thus became a cornerstone of Confucian moral education.
💡 Example Usage
他自幼入孝出悌，深得乡邻称赞。
From a young age he practiced filial piety at home and respect for elders abroad, earning him the praise of all his neighbors.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 入孝出悌
- Pinyin: rù xiào chū tì
- Literal Translation: enter, filial piety, go out, respect for elder brother
- Category: Morality
- Characters: 4