若要人不知，除非己莫為

Chinese

		to seem; like; as to seem; like; as; if	important; vital; to want important; vital; to want; to be going to; must; demand; ask; request; coerce	man; person; people	to not know; to have no idea of; to be ignorant of to not know; to have no idea of; to be ignorant of; to wonder if		unless; only if; only when	6th heavenly stem; self	do not; there is none who	because of; for; to because of; for; to; act as; take...to be; to be; to do; to serve as; to become
trad. (若要人不知，除非己莫為/若要人不知，除非己莫爲)		若	要	人	不知	，	除非	己	莫	為/爲
simp. (若要人不知，除非己莫为)		若	要	人	不知	，	除非	己	莫	为
Literally: “if one wants others to not know [of their wrongdoings], only [happens] when themselves had not done it”.

Etymology

The earliest appearance of similar expressions was in Mei Cheng (枚乘)'s Petition to the Prince of Wu:

欲人勿聞，莫若勿言；欲人勿知，莫若勿為。 [MSC, trad.]

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欲人勿闻，莫若勿言；欲人勿知，莫若勿为。 [MSC, simp.]

From: Mei Sheng (枚乘),《上書諫吳王》

Yù rén wù wén, mò ruò wù yán; yù rén wù zhī, mò ruò wù wèi. [Pinyin]

Do not speak if you do not want others to hear; do not do if you do not want others to know.

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): ruò yào rén bùzhī chúfēi jǐ mò wéi

  (Zhuyin): ㄖㄨㄛˋ ㄧㄠˋ ㄖㄣˊ ㄅㄨˋ ㄓ ㄔㄨˊ ㄈㄟ ㄐㄧˇ ㄇㄛˋ ㄨㄟˊ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): joek⁶ jiu³ jan⁴ bat¹ zi¹, ceoi⁴ fei¹ gei² mok⁶ wai⁴

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• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: ruò yào rén bùzhī chúfēi jǐ mò wéi
    • Zhuyin: ㄖㄨㄛˋ ㄧㄠˋ ㄖㄣˊ ㄅㄨˋ ㄓ ㄔㄨˊ ㄈㄟ ㄐㄧˇ ㄇㄛˋ ㄨㄟˊ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: ruò yào rén bùjhih chúfei jǐ mò wéi
    • Wade–Giles: jo⁴ yao⁴ jên² pu⁴-chih¹ chʻu²-fei¹ chi³ mo⁴ wei²
    • Yale: rwò yàu rén bù-jr̄ chú-fēi jǐ mwò wéi
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: ruoh yaw ren bujy chwufei jii moh wei
    • Palladius: жо яо жэнь бучжи чуфэй цзи мо вэй (žo jao žɛnʹ bučži čufɛj czi mo vɛj)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /ʐu̯ɔ⁵¹⁻⁵³ jɑʊ̯⁵¹ ʐən³⁵ pu⁵¹ ʈ͡ʂʐ̩⁵⁵ ʈ͡ʂʰu³⁵ feɪ̯⁵⁵ t͡ɕi²¹⁴⁻²¹ mu̯ɔ⁵¹ weɪ̯³⁵/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)⁺
    • Jyutping: joek⁶ jiu³ jan⁴ bat¹ zi¹, ceoi⁴ fei¹ gei² mok⁶ wai⁴
    • Yale: yeuhk yiu yàhn bāt jī, chèuih fēi géi mohk wàih
    • Cantonese Pinyin: joek⁹ jiu³ jan⁴ bat⁷ dzi¹, tsoey⁴ fei¹ gei² mok⁹ wai⁴
    • Guangdong Romanization: yêg⁶ yiu³ yen⁴ bed¹ ji¹, cêu⁴ féi¹ géi² mog⁶ wei⁴
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /jœːk̚² jiːu̯³³ jɐn²¹ pɐt̚⁵ t͡siː⁵⁵ t͡sʰɵy̯²¹ fei̯⁵⁵ kei̯³⁵ mɔːk̚² wɐi̯²¹/

Proverb

若要人不知，除非己莫為

1. murder will out; one should not do it if they do not want others to know

Derived terms

• 若要人不知，唔好咁低B