不孝有三，无后为大
bù​xiào​yǒu​sān​wú​hòu​wéi​dà

no heirs is the worst unfiliality

  • created sense approved 不孝有三，无后为大/不孝有三，無後為大 · bù​xiào​yǒu​sān​wú​hòu​wéi​dà · no heirs is the worst unfiliality — "Initial import from upstream dictionary"

    不孝有三，无后为大 / 不孝有三，無後為大

    bù​xiào​yǒu​sān​wú​hòu​wéi​dà

    no heirs is the worst unfiliality

    There are three ways to be unfilial, and having no sons is the most serious. From the works of [[孟子|孟子|meng4 zi3]], this phrase is often used to emphasize the importance of carrying on the family line.

    bú​xiào​yǒu​sān​wú​hòu​wéi​dà

    不孝 (literal) → 不孝 · bù​xiào · unfilial 有 (literal) → 有 · yǒu · there is 三 (literal) → 三 · sān · three ， (non_chinese) 无后 (literal) → 无后/無後 · wú​hòu · heirless 为 (literal) → 为/為 · wéi · to be 大 (literal) → 大 · dà · big

    Changed: simplified, traditional, gloss, definition, pinyin, variant pinyin, variants, separable parts, decomposition

    created sense