# 人不為己，天誅地滅
## Chinese

| | | man; person; people | not; no | because of; for; tobecause of; for; to; act as; take...to be; to be; to do; to serve as; to become | 6th heavenly stem; self | | |
| trad. (人不為己，天誅地滅/人不爲己，天誅地滅) | trad. (人不為己，天誅地滅/人不爲己，天誅地滅) | 人 | 不 | 為/爲 | 己 | ， | 天誅地滅 |
| simp. (人不为己，天诛地灭) | simp. (人不为己，天诛地灭) | 人 | 不 | 为 | 己 | ， | 天诛地灭 |

### Etymology

Attested earliest in Liu Shaoqi's How to be a Good Communist (《論共產黨員的修養》)
    From: 1939, Liu Shaoqi (劉少奇), How to be a Good Communist 《論共產黨員的修養》, translation from 1984, Selected Works of Liu Shaoqi, Volume I
    Yīqiè hǎo de shìqíng tā dōu qǐtú bàzhàn, dànshì, yīqiè “dǎoméi” de shìqíng, zǒng xiǎng shì méiyǒu tā. Zhè zhǒng rén de nǎojīn, jìntòu zhuó bōxuējiējí de sīxiǎngyìshí. Tā xiàngxìn zhèyàng de huà: “Rén bù wèi jǐ, tiān zhū dì miè”, “rén shì zìsīzìlì de dòngwù”, “shìjièshàng bùhuì yǒu zhēnzhèng dàgōngwúsī de rén, rúguǒ yǒu, nà yě shì chǔncái hé shǎguā”. Tā shènzhì yòng zhè yī dà tào bōxuējiējí de huà, lái wèi tā de zìsīzìlì hé gerénzhǔyì biànhù. Zài wǒmen dǎngnèi shì yǒu zhè zhǒng rén de. [Pinyin]
    They want to grab all the good things of life, but when it comes to the "unpleasant things", they think these are for others. The heads of such people are stuffed with the ideology of the exploiting classes. They believe that "every man is for himself or that Heaven and Earth will destroy him", man is a "selfish animal", and "no one in the world is genuinely unselfish, unless he is a simpleton or an idiot". They even use such exploiting class rubbish to justify their own selfishness and individualism. There are such people in our Party.

### Pronunciation

* Mandarin
    (Pinyin): rén bù wèi jǐ, tiān zhū dì miè
    (Zhuyin): ㄖㄣˊ ㄅㄨˋ ㄨㄟˋ ㄐㄧˇ , ㄊㄧㄢ ㄓㄨ ㄉㄧˋ ㄇㄧㄝˋ
* Cantonese (Jyutping): jan$^4$ bat$^1$ wai$^6$ gei$^2$, tin$^1$ zyu$^1$ dei$^6$ mit$^6$
* Mandarin
** (Standard Chinese)
*** Hanyu Pinyin: rén bù wèi jǐ, tiān zhū dì miè [Phonetic: rén bú wèi jǐ, tiān zhū dì miè]
*** Zhuyin: ㄖㄣˊ ㄅㄨˋ ㄨㄟˋ ㄐㄧˇ , ㄊㄧㄢ ㄓㄨ ㄉㄧˋ ㄇㄧㄝˋ
*** Tongyong Pinyin: rén bù wèi jǐ, tian jhu dì miè
*** Wade–Giles: jên$^2$ pu$^4$ wei$^4$ chi$^3$, tʻien$^1$ chu$^1$ ti$^4$ mieh$^4$
*** Yale: rén bù wèi jǐ-, tyān jū dì myè
*** Gwoyeu Romatzyh: ren bu wey jii, tian ju dih mieh
*** Palladius: жэнь бу вэй цзи, тянь чжу ди ме (žɛnʹ bu vɛj czi, tjanʹ čžu di me)
*** Sinological IPA : /ʐən³⁵ pu⁵¹⁻³⁵ weɪ̯⁵¹ t͡ɕi²¹⁴⁻²¹ tʰi̯ɛn⁵⁵ ʈ͡ʂu⁵⁵ ti⁵¹⁻⁵³ mi̯ɛ⁵¹/
* Cantonese
** (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
*** Jyutping: jan$^4$ bat$^1$ wai$^6$ gei$^2$, tin$^1$ zyu$^1$ dei$^6$ mit$^6$
*** Yale: yàhn bāt waih géi, tīn jyū deih miht
*** Cantonese Pinyin: jan$^4$ bat$^7$ wai$^6$ gei$^2$, tin$^1$ dzy$^1$ dei$^6$ mit$^9$
*** Guangdong Romanization: yen$^4$ bed$^1$ wei$^6$ géi$^2$, tin$^1$ ju$^1$ déi$^6$ mid$^6$
*** Sinological IPA : /jɐn²¹ pɐt̚⁵ wɐi̯²² kei̯³⁵ tʰiːn⁵⁵ t͡syː⁵⁵ tei̯²² miːt̚²/

### Proverb

人不為己，天誅地滅
* unless a person looks out for themselves, Heaven and Earth will destroy them; everyone for themselves and the devil take the hindmost
    From: 2000, Chin Kung (淨空), “[Lectures on] ‘The Sutra Spoken by Buddha on the Way of Ten Meritorious Deeds’ (《佛說十善業道經》)”, Episode 24 (第二十四集)
    Wǒ zhècì zài Xiānggǎng Yàshì fǎngwèn de shíhòu, céngjīng shuō le yī jù huà. Tā shuō: yànyǔ jiǎng “rén bù wèi jǐ, tiān zhū dì miè”, nǎge bù wèi zìjǐ? Tā shuō wèi zìjǐ shì zhèngdāng de. Wǒ dāngshí jiù gēn tā shuōmíng, zhè yī jù huà shì cuòwù de, zhè jù huà bùshì zhèngjiàn, wùdǎo le xǔxǔduōduō de zhòngshēng. Shénme shì zhèngjiàn? Rén yìngdāng wèi shèhuì, yìngdāng wèi zhòngshēng, zhè shì zhèngzhī zhèngjiàn, bùyào wèi zìjǐ. [Pinyin]
    When I was interviewed on ATV Hong Kong, [the host] once said: “‘Every person serves themself or Heaven and Earth will destroy them’, as a proverb goes. Which person isn't selfish? Being selfish is reasonable.” I immediately explained to him that this proverb is wrong, is not the correct view, [and] has misled too many people. What is the correct view? People ought to serve society and be altruistic, that is the correct view and correct mindfulness. Don't be selfish!

#### Descendants

* → Vietnamese: người không vì mình, trời tru đất diệt (calque)

### Further reading

* Liu Jinming (劉金明) (2016), “Busting Myths in Chinese Studies - 2: ‘Every person serves themself or Heaven and Earth will destroy them’ (《國學闢謠之二：人不為己天誅地》)”, kknews.cc. (in Chinese)