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Reciprocity in Chinese / Japanese...
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Confucius: Golden Rule / Ethic of Reciprocity
Do not do to others what you do not want done to yourself
Some may think of this as a “Christian trait,” but actually, it transcends many religions.
This Chinese teaching dates back to about 2,500 years ago in China. Confucius had always taught the belief in being benevolent (ren), but this idea was hard to grasp for some of his students, as benevolence could be kind-heartedness or an essence of humanity itself.
When answering Zhong Gong's question as to what "ren" actually meant, Confucius said:
己所不欲勿施于人 or "When you go out, you should behave as if you were in the presence of a distinguished guest; when people do favors for you, act as if a great sacrifice was made for you. Whatever you wouldn't like done to you, do not do that thing to others. Don't complain at work or home.”
Hearing this, Zhong Gong said humbly, “Although I am not clever, I will do what you say.”
From this encounter, the Chinese version of the “Golden Rule” or “Ethic of Reciprocity” came to be.
The characters you see above express, “Do not do to others whatever you do not want to be done to yourself.”
See Also: Confucius Teachings | Benevolence
Mutual Benefit
This word means mutual benefit or mutually beneficial in Chinese, Japanese Kanji, and old Korean Hanja.
This can also be defined as reciprocity or reciprocal.
Note: In Japanese, they will tend to drop one stroke on the second character and write 互恵 instead of 互惠. If this small variation matters to you, please drop me a note when you place your order.
There is one single thread binding my Way together
吾道一以貫之 is a phrase from the Analects of Confucius that translates as “My Way has one thread that runs through it.”
Other translations include:
My Way is penetrated by a single thread.
There is one single thread binding my Way together.
My Way is run through with a unifying thread.
My Way is Consistent.
And sometimes poetic license is taken, and it is translated as:
My Way is the only one; I'll treasure it and stick to it with humility until the end.
After this was said, some 2500+ years ago, another disciple of Confucius clarified the meaning by stating, “Our master's Way is to be loyal and have a sense of reciprocity.”
In Japanese, this is purported to be romanized as “Waga michi ichi wo motte kore wo tsuranuku,” though some will argue the true pronunciation.
Note: Sometimes written 吾道以一貫之 instead of 吾道一以貫之 with no difference in meaning.
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Below are some entries from our dictionary that may match your reciprocity search...
| Characters If shown, 2nd row is Simp. Chinese |
Pronunciation Romanization |
Simple Dictionary Definition |
互恵 see styles |
gokei / goke ごけい |
reciprocity; mutual benefit |
互酬 see styles |
goshuu / goshu ごしゅう |
(See 互酬性) reciprocity |
交換 交换 see styles |
jiāo huàn jiao1 huan4 chiao huan koukan / kokan こうかん |
to exchange; to swap; to switch (telecom); commutative (math); to commute (noun, transitive verb) exchange; interchange; switching; reciprocity; barter; substitution; replacement; clearing (of checks, cheques) |
對等 对等 see styles |
duì děng dui4 deng3 tui teng |
equal status; equal treatment; parity (under the law); equity; reciprocity |
互酬性 see styles |
goshuusei / goshuse ごしゅうせい |
reciprocity |
互恵条約 see styles |
gokeijouyaku / gokejoyaku ごけいじょうやく |
reciprocal treaty; treaty of reciprocity |
相互主義 see styles |
sougoshugi / sogoshugi そうごしゅぎ |
principle of reciprocity |
相反定理 see styles |
souhanteiri / sohanteri そうはんていり |
{physics} reciprocity theorem |
禮尚往來 礼尚往来 see styles |
lǐ shàng wǎng lái li3 shang4 wang3 lai2 li shang wang lai |
lit. proper behavior is based on reciprocity (idiom); fig. to return politeness for politeness |
相反則不軌 see styles |
souhansokufuki / sohansokufuki そうはんそくふき |
reciprocity failure |
返報性の原理 see styles |
henpouseinogenri / henposenogenri へんぽうせいのげんり |
(exp,n) norm of reciprocity |
戦略的互恵関係 see styles |
senryakutekigokeikankei / senryakutekigokekanke せんりゃくてきごけいかんけい |
strategic reciprocity; mutually beneficial relationship based on common strategic interests |
持ちつ持たれつ see styles |
mochitsumotaretsu もちつもたれつ |
(exp,n) helping each other; supporting each other; mutual cooperation; give and take; reciprocity; interdependence |
リシプロシティー see styles |
rishipuroshitii / rishipuroshiti リシプロシティー |
reciprocity |
レシプロシティー see styles |
reshipuroshitii / reshipuroshiti レシプロシティー |
reciprocity |
平方剰余の相互法則 see styles |
heihoujouyonosougohousoku / hehojoyonosogohosoku へいほうじょうよのそうごほうそく |
(exp,n) {math} law of quadratic reciprocity |
Variations: |
rishipuroshitii; reshipuroshitii / rishipuroshiti; reshipuroshiti リシプロシティー; レシプロシティー |
reciprocity |
The following table may be helpful for those studying Chinese or Japanese...
| Title | Characters | Romaji (Romanized Japanese) | Various forms of Romanized Chinese | |
| Confucius: Golden Rule Ethic of Reciprocity | 己所不欲勿施於人 己所不欲勿施于人 | jǐ suǒ bú yù wù shī yú rén ji3 suo3 bu2 yu4, wu4 shi1 yu2 ren2 ji suo bu yu, wu shi yu ren jisuobuyu,wushiyuren | chi so pu yü, wu shih yü jen chisopuyü,wushihyüjen |
|
| Mutual Benefit | 互惠 | gokei | hù huì / hu4 hui4 / hu hui / huhui | |
| There is one single thread binding my Way together | 吾道一以貫之 吾道一以贯之 | ware dou tsurayuki waredoutsurayuki ware do tsurayuki | wú dào yī yǐ guàn zhī wu2 dao4 yi1 yi3 guan4 zhi1 wu dao yi yi guan zhi wudaoyiyiguanzhi | wu tao i i kuan chih wutaoiikuanchih |
| In some entries above you will see that characters have different versions above and below a line. In these cases, the characters above the line are Traditional Chinese, while the ones below are Simplified Chinese. | ||||
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