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良知 (liáng zhī) — (Confucian philosophy) innate moral knowledge; intuitive understanding of right and wrong; conscience; moral sense

Definition

良知 is a Confucian-philosophy term for the innate moral sense — the inner 'knowing' of right and wrong (Wang Yangming's 致良知). In modern use it simply means conscience.

noun
(Confucian philosophy) innate moral knowledgeintuitive understanding of right and wrongconsciencemoral sense

Examples

  • 「良知」，。
    Wáng yáng míng tí chū "zhì liáng zhī" de xué shuō, qiáng diào rén rén dōu yǒu nèi zài de dào dé pàn duàn lì.
    Wang Yangming put forward the theory of 'extending the innate knowledge', emphasizing that everyone has an inner moral judgment.
  • ，良知，。
    Zài jù dà de lì yì miàn qián, tā shī qù le liáng zhī, zuò chū le shāng tiān hài lǐ de shì.
    Faced with huge profits, he lost his conscience and did something outrageous.
  • 良知。
    Zhè ge shè huì xū yào gèng duō hū huàn liáng zhī de shēng yīn.
    This society needs more voices that appeal to conscience.

Origin

Compound word
构词法gòucífǎ
偏正piānzhèngModifier + head

The first part narrows down the second: it says what kind of thing the head is.

良liánggood
知zhīknowledge

良 means good or right, and 知 means knowledge; together they name innate moral knowing.

Characters in this word

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

良 possibly depicts corridors and a room.

Open 良 →

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

An early form of 知 showed 大 (adult), 口 (mouth), and 子 (child): an adult speaking to a child to pass on knowledge. The 子 part was dropped, and the 大 part changed shape.

Open 知 →
Appears in
Abstract Concepts

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