Lovely Chinese: 忍

*忍rěn : endure, tolerate

部首Radical: 心(xīn: heart)

形聲Phonetic: 刃(rèn: the top of sharp knife)

會意Combination:
The upper side is a sharp knife 刃,
The lower side is a heart 心,
to put a knife onto one’s heart, what’s kind of that feeling? Surely it’s not comfortable or even painful, and hard to tolerate…so this symbolize the feeling of 忍.

單字Vocabulary:
刃、心、忍

造詞Make a word:
忍耐(rěnnài). Means endure or endurance.

熟語Idiom:
忍無可忍(rěnwúkěrěn) (無: not; 可: can)
To tolerate something or someone up to one’s limit, then do no more endurance.

造句Make a sentence:
我對他忍無可忍.I can’t endure him anymore.

文化概述Culture note:
忍is a kind of wisdom to Chinese people.
1. Since ancient China was based on the agricultural society, people had to learn 忍and got used to the damage or changes brought by the nature.

2.忍even became a kind of character or culture of Chinese literati. Literati always concentrate on learning and reading, nothing is more important than their knowledge, so that they are not allow to complain anything, in case they are poor, lonely, hungry, cold, hopeless, depressed or even sick…, only they can do is 忍. In addition, they have to act as if they far beyond it, namely to control or constrain their desire. To them and society both, the most valuable thing in their life is endless learning and reading. Before they get achievement in the national examination, they are educated to do unlimitedly 忍.

3.In patriarchy China, elderly people are always right, young people should 忍 until they become elders. Besides, male’s status and authority are always higher than female, female have to 忍until they become mother-in-law in the family, let alone the wife 忍耐 husband’s multiple wives in Chinese history.