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Definition 2024

See also: 不耻下问

{| style="clear: right;margin: 1em;border-collapse: collapse;text-align: center"

|- ! !not; no; (negative prefix) !shame; disgrace

under; second; next; lower; below; underneath; down(wards); to decline; to go down; latter

!to ask |- !trad. (不恥下問) | 不 | 恥 | 下 | 問 |- !simp. (不耻下问) | 不 | 耻 | 下 | 问 |}

不恥下問

c. 479 BCE – 221 BCE, Analects of Confucius
子貢問曰︰“孔文子何以謂之文也？”子曰︰“敏而好學，不恥下問，是以謂之文也
Zigong asked, "How did Kong The Learned come to be (posthumously) dubbed The Learned?" Master (Confucius) said, "he was clever and loved to learn, he was not ashamed to ask his subordinates (if he did not know something). This is why he was dubbed The Learned." (Wiktionary translation)