đôi đức sinh thành
Definition
- Noun Phrase:
- Parental grace / Parental virtue: A traditional Vietnamese term expressing the profound gratitude and moral debt owed to one's parents for the dual virtues of giving birth and raising a child. It encapsulates the immense merit and virtue inherent in the acts of bearing and nurturing.
Usage Examples
- Noun Phrase:
- Con cái phải nhớ đến đôi đức sinh thành của cha mẹ. (Children must remember the parental grace of their mother and father.)
- Đôi đức sinh thành là công ơn lớn lao nhất. (Parental virtue is the greatest debt of gratitude.)
Advanced Usage
- The phrase is deeply embedded in Confucian family ethics and is often used in formal, literary, or solemn contexts, such as during ancestor worship, weddings, or when discussing filial piety.
- It is a fixed, revered compound and is not broken down or used flexibly in modern speech.
Variants and Related Words
- Công ơn sinh thành (n): The grace of giving birth; often used synonymously to refer to the parents' foundational merit.
- Không bao giờ quên công ơn sinh thành. (Never forget the grace of being given life.)
- Công cha nghĩa mẹ (n): The merit of the father, the duty/kindness of the mother; a similar idiom highlighting separate parental roles.
- Ơn nghĩa sinh thành (n): The debt of gratitude for being born and raised.
Synonyms
- Parental merit: The deserving goodness or virtue of parents.
- Filial debt: The obligation owed by children to their parents (this is the consequence of ).
Related Idioms and Concepts
- Uống nước nhớ nguồn: (When you drink water, remember the source.) An idiom about gratitude that is often invoked alongside discussions of .
- Đạo lý "uống nước nhớ nguồn" thể hiện qua việc nhớ ơn đôi đức sinh thành. (The principle "when you drink water, remember the source" is shown through remembering parental grace.)
- Chữ Hiếu: Filial piety; the central virtue of respecting and caring for one's parents, which is the proper response to .