A Knife Over the Heart 忍耐

What my taxi driver said (refer to previous post) made me recalled the Chinese word 忍耐 rěnnài which means “to exercise patience” or “to show restraint”. Taken individually both the characters 忍 rěn and 耐 nài means the same – “endure, tolerate”. This is a very important word in Chinese moral teaching and is stressed by the following emphasis by which all Chinese youngsters are taught.

忍 [rěn] 心上一把刀 xīnshàngyíbǎdāo
A blade over the heart
耐 [nài] 面子少三寸 miànzishǎosāncùn
Face less three inches

The character 忍 rěn is composed of 刃 rèn ('blade') phonetic over 心 (xīn) 'heart'. It is not easy to tolerate sometimes “like a blade over the heart”. That is why it is even more virtuous to be able to show restraint in the face of such aggravation.

Sometimes, we cannot endure further because of our pride, of what we deemed as a slap to our face. Please note that the character 耐 nài is made up of 而 ér (this serves as the phonetic but is pronounced differently in ancient time - *nzi) and 寸 (cùn) 'inch'. 而 is very close in writing to 面 [miàn] “face” but less 3 strokes (or 3 inches) in total. Thus, if we are not so particular about our “face” and are willing to concede 3 inches; we will find the situation much easier to tolerate. From these examples, you can appreciate the beauty of the Chinese written language. Below are some Chinese compound words and proverbs that further stressed tolerance. The reasons why those characters are combined to give the meanings are pretty obvious.

忍 rěn + 心 xīn 'heart' = 忍心 rěnxīn have the heart to
忍 rěn + 受 shòu ‘receive’ = 忍受 rěnshòu v. endure; bear
忍 rěn + 残 cán ‘savage’ = 残忍 cánrěn adj. cruel; ruthless (can endure savagery)
忍 rěn + 坚 jiān ‘solid; firm’ = 坚忍 jiānrěn adj. steadfast and persevering (firm in enduring)
忍 rěn + 让 ràng ‘let, allow’ = 忍让 rěnràng v. be conciliatory
忍诟偷生 rěngòu-tōushēng vp. (“endure shame, drag out an ignoble existence”) = endure disgrace in order to stay alive
忍气吞声 rěnqì-tūnshēng vp. (“endure anger swallow sound”) = swallow anger

耐 nài + 心 xīn 'heart' = 耐心 nàixīn adj. patient
耐 nài + 烦 fán ‘be vexed’ = 耐烦 nàifán adj. patient (able to tolerate being vexed)
耐 nài + 性 xìng ‘nature’ = 耐性 nàixìng n. patience; endurance
耐 nài + 劳 láo ‘labor’ = 耐劳 nàiláo adj. diligent; able to stand hard work
吃苦耐劳 chīkǔ-nàiláo vo. (“eat bitter endure labour”) = endure hardships

These examples should give a good idea of how a lot of Chinese words are constructed, putting two or more similar or contrasting characters to form a word with the same or totally new meaning. The above are examples with logical explanation but there are vexing examples where one will be hard pressed to find logic. That is why Mandarin is so difficult to learn but then Chinese speakers said the same thing of English! Isn’t this food for thought? 耐人寻味 nàirénxúnwèi?

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