经世致用

經世致用

jīngshì-zhìyòng

idiom

Meanings

1 learning should serve the practical running of the state
2 scholarship put to practical use

Characters

to manage; to govern

the world; society

Examples

HSK 6

他主张读书要经世致用，不能只会背书。

Tā zhǔzhāng dúshū yào jīngshì-zhìyòng, bù néng zhǐ huì bèishū.

He held that study should serve practical ends, not just learning texts by heart.

HSK 7-9

明末清初，顾炎武等学者提倡经世致用的学风。

Míngmò Qīngchū, Gù Yánwǔ děng xuézhě tíchàng jīngshì-zhìyòng de xuéfēng.

At the end of the Ming and the start of the Qing, Gu Yanwu and other scholars championed learning aimed at practical statecraft.

Tips

history

经世 is running the affairs of the world, 致用 putting to use. After the fall of the Ming, scholars such as 顾炎武 and 黄宗羲 turned from abstract philosophy to practical subjects; in the late Qing 魏源 and 龚自珍 took up the cause again.

Stroke Order

经 jīng

世 shì

致 zhì

用 yòng