明哲保身 (míng zhé bǎo shēn) — to play it safe; to avoid risk to protect oneself; (often pejorative) to be overly cautious or self-protective

Definition

A four-character idiom (chengyu) for staying out of trouble by avoiding risk. Usually carries a negative tone — it means playing it safe to protect yourself, not out of principle.

idiom
to play it safeto avoid risk to protect oneself(often pejorative) to be overly cautious or self-protective

Examples

  • ，明哲保身。
    Zài huì yì shàng tā cóng bù biǎo tài, zǒng shì míng zhé bǎo shēn.
    He never takes a stand at meetings, always playing it safe.
  • 明哲保身。
    Lǐng dǎo pī píng le tā zhè zhǒng míng zhé bǎo shēn de tài dù.
    The leader criticized his attitude of self-protection.
  • ，明哲保身，。
    Zài gōng sī lǐ, míng zhé bǎo shēn suī rán ān quán, dàn yě huì cuò shī jī huì.
    In a company, playing it safe may be safe, but it also makes you miss opportunities.

Origin

Characters in this word

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

明 combines 日 (sun) and 月 (moon), showing the sun just rising while the moon has not yet set, or two bright objects in the sky, to express brightness.

Open 明 →

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
口口kǒumouth
Sound part声符shēngfú
折
折zhé哲zhé
Same sound today

The form 哲 pairs 口 (mouth) with 折, which gives the sound.

Open 哲 →

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

保 originally showed a person 人 carrying a child 子 on their back, which led to the sense of protecting.

Open 保 →

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

The shape of 身 comes from a drawing of a pregnant woman.

Open 身 →

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