Definition

Noun: 1. Retired scholar; recluse scholar: A person, typically a learned individual or former official, who has withdrawn from public life and society to live in seclusion, often in a rural or natural setting, dedicating themselves to study, contemplation, or personal cultivation.

Usage Examples

• Noun:
  • Ông ấy từ quan về quê, sống cuộc đời của một ẩn sĩ. (He resigned from his official post and returned to his hometown, living the life of a retired scholar.)
  • Trong lịch sử Việt Nam có nhiều vị ẩn sĩ nổi tiếng. (In Vietnamese history, there are many famous recluse scholars.)
  • Ngôi nhà nhỏ trong rừng là nơi ở của vị ẩn sĩ. (The small house in the forest is the dwelling of the recluse scholar.)

Advanced Usage

• The term "ẩn sĩ" carries a cultural connotation of wisdom, integrity, and a deliberate choice to avoid the corruption or turmoil of official life or society. It is not merely someone who is unsociable, but one who seeks a purer, simpler life aligned with philosophical or scholarly pursuits.
• It is often associated with Confucian, Taoist, or Buddhist ideals of detachment and self-cultivation.

Variants and Related Words

• Ẩn dật (verb/noun): To live in seclusion; the act of living as a recluse.
  • Ông ấy quyết định ẩn dật ở vùng núi. (He decided to live in seclusion in the mountainous area.)
• Ẩn cư (verb): To live in hiding or seclusion. Similar to "ẩn dật."
• Hiền sĩ (noun): Virtuous scholar. While not a recluse, it shares the "scholar" aspect.

Synonyms

• Người sống ẩn dật: A person living in seclusion.
• Người ở ẩn: A person in retirement/seclusion.

Related Idioms and Phrases

• "Treo ấn từ quan": To hang up the official seal and resign from one's post. This phrase often describes the action preceding someone becoming an "ẩn sĩ".
  • Sau nhiều năm làm quan, ông treo ấn từ quan để trở thành một ẩn sĩ. (After many years as an official, he hung up his seal and resigned to become a recluse scholar.)
• "Lánh đục tìm trong": To avoid the murky (corrupt world) and seek the clear (pure life). This idiom captures the motivation of many "ẩn sĩ".
  • Quyết định lánh đục tìm trong của các bậc ẩn sĩ đáng để suy ngẫm. (The decision of recluse scholars to avoid corruption and seek purity is worth contemplating.)

noun

1. retired scholar