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Help me remember a chengyu for "Admire from afar" -- solved (敬而遠之)


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Posted

There's a, I believe 4 character chengyu, with the meaning "keep a safe distance/admire from afar." Any possibilities? I can't quite recall what it was.

Posted

lips, your ”心乡往“ spurred my memory. I believe the one I'm thinking of contains “远之”. Might such a phrase with these characters exist?

 

edit: 敬而遠之8)

Posted

敬而遠之? (it has a negative connotation. prompted by your "keep" part)

可遠觀而不可褻玩 (not 4 character obviously...)

 

EDIT: you already found it...

  • Like 1
Posted

Yep, that's the one! Thank you fellow chinese-forum'ers!

 

edit: the thought definitely still counts!

Posted
2 hours ago, 歐博思 said:

敬而遠之

Mmm……although it has the character 敬 in it, 敬而遠之 doesn't carry any connotation of respect or admire.

  • 3 weeks later...
Posted

Its original context is believed to be Confucius in the Analects:

敬鬼神而遠之

It of course has a certain reverence here. But the chengyu that's emerged has been applied e.g. to the awe of nature.

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