Chinese idioms from the Dao De Jing
宠辱若惊 (chǒng rǔ ruò jīng)
Word for word from chapter 13
宠辱若惊 (chǒng rǔ ruò jīng), “Favor and disgrace are alike alarming”, opens chapter 13 of the Dao De Jing and describes someone anxious over every gain and loss.
Character by character
| 宠 | chǒng | favor, being favored |
|---|---|---|
| 辱 | rǔ | disgrace |
| 若 | ruò | like, as if |
| 惊 | jīng | alarm, startled |
| 宠辱若惊 | To be thrown into alarm by favor and by disgrace alike; anxious about every gain and loss. | |
Where it comes from
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宠辱若惊，
Favor and disgrace are alike alarming,
How the meaning moved
The four characters open chapter 13: “Favor and disgrace are alike alarming”. The chapter explains itself. “What do I mean by ‘Favor and disgrace are alike alarming’? Favor is lowly: gaining it is alarming, and so is losing it.” Favor is lowly because it is given by someone above you and can be taken back: whoever lives on it is afraid both when it comes and when it goes. The second half of the chapter turns to the self: great trouble comes because “I have a body”, and only one who values his own person as he values the world “Can be trusted with the world”.
The modern sense stays close to the chapter: 宠辱若惊 describes a person who worries over every gain and loss, elated and anxious by turns. The opposite, 宠辱不惊, “unmoved by favor or disgrace”, is a later idiom that differs by one character: 不, “not”, in place of 若. Do not confuse the idiom with 受宠若惊, “overwhelmed by a favor”, which is about pleasant surprise and not about fear.
Using it today
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他太在乎领导的评价，表扬一句就高兴，批评一句就失眠，真是宠辱若惊。
tā tài zài hu lǐng dǎo de píng jià, biǎo yáng yī jù jiù gāo xìng, pī píng yī jù jiù shī mián, zhēn shì chǒng rǔ ruò jīng.
He cares too much what his boss thinks: one word of praise and he is happy, one word of criticism and he cannot sleep. Favor and disgrace alarm him alike.
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做人要有定力，不能宠辱若惊，被别人的一句话左右。
zuò rén yào yǒu dìng lì, bù néng chǒng rǔ ruò jīng, bèi bié rén de yī jù huà zuǒ yòu.
You need inner steadiness: don't be alarmed by every favor and slight, swayed by one word from someone else.