恻隐之心 (cè yǐn zhī xīn) — a heart of compassion; innate sympathy for others' suffering
Definition
A literary chengyu for a feeling of pity for others' suffering, drawn from Mencian philosophy. Use it in writing, not everyday speech — 'compassion' is the sense, but the tone is lofty and classical.
noun
a heart of compassioninnate sympathy for others' suffering
Examples
- ，恻隐之心。Kàn dào nà xiē wú jiā kě guī de rén, tā dòng le cè yǐn zhī xīn.Seeing those homeless people, he felt compassion.
- 恻隐之心，。Rén jiē yǒu cè yǐn zhī xīn, zhè shì mèng zǐ sī xiǎng de hé xīn.Everyone has a heart of compassion — this is the core of Mencius's thought.
- ，恻隐之心，。Tā suī fù yǒu, què háo wú cè yǐn zhī xīn, duì qióng rén de kǔ nàn shì ér bú jiàn.Although he is rich, he has no compassion at all and turns a blind eye to the suffering of the poor.
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