<p>As far as I am concerned ,this motto is related from Lunyu which from China not from Korea . It is written by Chinese Confusius and his disciples. It's original motto is '君子周而不比，小人比而不周'. I think it is exactly similar to the motto you provide. </p>

<ul>
<li>List item</li>
</ul>

<p>'周'means : coordinate;harmonize 
[That is to say the person who can in charge or  organize his members perfectly , and he can lead the team on a good way,do the good things.]
'比'means:  collude;gang with somebody  </p>

<p>That is to say,the motto want to tell us, the difference between 君子 and 小人 is whether he has the quality of benevolence. A person of noble character emphasize morality and justice,while 小人 only pay attention to benefit.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-09-29T03:02:35.840Z
I think "to collude" is a better translation of 比 than "narrow-minded". 杨伯峻《论语译注》 puts 比 as “以暂时共同利害互相勾结”(to collude for the temporal interests)。
tvk
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-09-27T07:23:49.173Z
2014-09-27T07:23:49.173Z
user6453
<p>text: 周而弗比 乃君子之公心 比而弗周 寔小人之私意
for further information search web using it as search term 
in particular try <a href="http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=2729743&amp;s=cdb9ee567562f6388e19096b9c2a9de1" rel="nofollow">http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=2729743&amp;s=cdb9ee567562f6388e19096b9c2a9de1</a></p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-09-27T04:14:13.493Z
2014-09-27T04:14:13.493Z
user6065
<p>This slogan or motto is written in Chinese, though it comes from Korea. I have wondered many years what does it mean. Thank you for your help to understand it.</p>

<p><img src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f9/Chinese_Caligraphy_on_cloth.png" alt="Cloth Calligraphy from Korea"></p>

<p><strong>EDIT:</strong>
Thanks to the answers so far, I have found more information. Here is the University where this motto is promoted in the very old days. It remains displayed there on a small building, which maybe was at the entrance to the university in the old days.</p>

<p><a href="http://mirror.enha.kr/wiki/%EC%84%B1%EA%B7%A0%EA%B4%80#s-3.5" rel="nofollow">SunKyunKwan University "Tang Pyung Be"</a> </p>

<p>There is a Korean translation there in the article, however even that is obscure to a modern Korean speaker. I think I will try a Korean translation section too. </p>

<blockquote>
  <p>周而弗比 乃君子之公心 比而不周 寔小人之私心 / 두루 사귀되 가리지 않음은 곧 군자의 공심(公心)이고, 가려 사귀되 두루치 않음은 바로 소인의 사심(私心)이다.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>EDIT 2: The reply in the comment below is reasonably meaningful and thoughtful attempt of translation to English. </p>

<p>"All-inclusive but not narrow-minded, this is the selflessness of the gentleman; narrow-minded but not all-inclusive, this is truly the selfishness of the petty man."</p>

<p>Thank you. </p>

<translation><calligraphy>
What is the meaning of this calligraphy?
# What is the meaning of this calligraphy?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2014-09-27)

This slogan or motto is written in Chinese, though it comes from Korea. I have wondered many years what does it mean. Thank you for your help to understand it.

![Cloth Calligraphy from Korea](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f9/Chinese_Caligraphy_on_cloth.png)

**EDIT:**
Thanks to the answers so far, I have found more information. Here is the University where this motto is promoted in the very old days. It remains displayed there on a small building, which maybe was at the entrance to the university in the old days.

[SunKyunKwan University "Tang Pyung Be"](http://mirror.enha.kr/wiki/%EC%84%B1%EA%B7%A0%EA%B4%80#s-3.5)

There is a Korean translation there in the article, however even that is obscure to a modern Korean speaker. I think I will try a Korean translation section too.

> 周而弗比 乃君子之公心 比而不周 寔小人之私心 / 두루 사귀되 가리지 않음은 곧 군자의 공심(公心)이고, 가려 사귀되 두루치 않음은 바로 소인의 사심(私心)이다.

EDIT 2: The reply in the comment below is reasonably meaningful and thoughtful attempt of translation to English.

"All-inclusive but not narrow-minded, this is the selflessness of the gentleman; narrow-minded but not all-inclusive, this is truly the selfishness of the petty man."

Thank you.

**Tags:** translation, calligraphy


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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2014-09-27. Score: 1 | Accepted answer

As far as I am concerned ,this motto is related from Lunyu which from China not from Korea . It is written by Chinese Confusius and his disciples. It's original motto is '君子周而不比，小人比而不周'. I think it is exactly similar to the motto you provide.

* List item

'周'means : coordinate;harmonize
[That is to say the person who can in charge or organize his members perfectly , and he can lead the team on a good way,do the good things.]
'比'means: collude;gang with somebody

That is to say,the motto want to tell us, the difference between 君子 and 小人 is whether he has the quality of benevolence. A person of noble character emphasize morality and justice,while 小人 only pay attention to benefit.

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: I think "to collude" is a better translation of 比 than "narrow-minded". 杨伯峻《论语译注》 puts 比 as “以暂时共同利害互相勾结”(to collude for the temporal interests)。  

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### Answer by username_3 on 2014-09-27. Score: 0

text: 周而弗比 乃君子之公心 比而弗周 寔小人之私意
for further information search web using it as search term
in particular try <http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=2729743&s=cdb9ee567562f6388e19096b9c2a9de1>


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