爱礼存羊

Pronunciation: ài lǐ cún yáng Literal meaning: Love the rite, keep the sheep

Origin & Usage

From the Analects (《论语·八佾》, 3.17). In Confucius's day the rulers of Lu no longer attended the monthly new-moon ceremony in person, but a sheep was still offered for it. His disciple Zigong (子贡, personal name 赐) proposed dropping the sheep as a pointless expense. Confucius answered: 'Ci, you care about the sheep; I care about the rite' (赐也！尔爱其羊，我爱其礼). As long as the offering continued, the ceremony it belonged to could one day be restored; abolish the form and the meaning would vanish with it. The idiom defends keeping a tradition's outward form for the sake of what it carries — a very Chinese argument, and a very New Year one.

Examples

English: "The school kept its old opening ceremony even though few understood it — loving the rite and keeping the sheep."

Chinese: 这个传统形式虽然简单，但爱礼存羊，保留下来才能传承其中的意义。