先天下之忧而忧，后天下之乐而乐 in English xian1 tian1 xia4 zhi1 you1 er2 you1 , hou4 tian1 xia4 zhi1 le4 er2 le4 Meaning

Meanings

  • The first concern is affairs of state, enjoying the pleasure comes later. Quotation from essay On Yueyang Tower 岳陽樓記|岳阳楼记 by Song writer Fan Zhongyan 范仲淹[Fan4 Zhong4 yan1]

Simplified Characters

先 天 下 之 忧 而 忧 ， 后 天 下 之 乐 而 乐

Traditional Characters

先 天 下 之 憂 而 憂 ， 後 天 下 之 樂 而 樂

Pinyin

xian1 tian1 xia4 zhi1 you1 er2 you1 , hou4 tian1 xia4 zhi1 le4 er2 le4

Literal

Literal explanation, with pronunciation and meaning of each character.

先xian1early 天tian1day 下xia4down 之zhi1(possessive particle, literary equivalent of 的[de5]) 忧you1to worry 而er2and 忧you1to worry ， 后hou4surname Hou 天tian1day 下xia4down 之zhi1(possessive particle, literary equivalent of 的[de5]) 乐le4surname Le 而er2and 乐le4surname Le