Chinese

		to know; to be aware	his; her; its his; her; its; theirs; that; such; it (refers to sth preceding it)	cannot	and; as well as; but (not) and; as well as; but (not); yet (not); (shows causal relation); (shows change of state); (shows contrast)	because of; for; to because of; for; to; act as; take...to be; to be; to do; to serve as; to become
trad. (知其不可而為)		知	其	不可	而	為
simp. (知其不可而为)		知	其	不可	而	为

Idiom

知其不可而為

1. to (stubbornly) do something even though you know it is impossible; to understand the difficulty of a feat but to attempt it anyway because it is the right thing to do (e.g. strive to eliminate world hunger)

Synonyms

• 知其不可而為之／知其不可而为之
• 知其不可為而為之／知其不可为而为之

References

1. ↑ Mr. Kong (Confucius) was advocating morality during a time of chaos (a futile undertaking).

• “知其不可而為”, in Guoyu Cidian On-line Mandarin Dictionary (國語辭典) (in Mandarin), accessed 2007-12-28
• “知其不可而为之---是谁说的！这句话有什么典故，描写什么的！”, in Baidu Online Encylopedia (in Mandarin), accessed 2007-12-28