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Refers to assistance or charity given in a humiliating or malicious fashion
Negative
我人穷志不穷，这种嗟来之食，我宁死也不肯接受 | Wǒ rén qióng zhì bù qióng, zhè zhǒng jiēláizhīshí, wǒ nìng sǐ yě bù kěn jiēshòu
I'm poor, but I am principled. I would rather die than accept this kind of charity
[Source]
这种嗟来之食，难以下咽 | Zhè zhǒng jiēláizhīshí, nányǐ xiàyàn
A handout given in such a contemptible manner is hard to swallow
[Source]
None
嗟来食 (jiē lái shí)
None
《礼记》(Lǐ Jì, "The Book of Rites"), one of the five classic works of Confucianism
During the Warring States Period (475 - 221 BC), the kingdom of Qí Guó (齐国) was suffering from a severe famine.
One day, a wealthy man named 黔敖 (Qián Áo) was walking along the road and leaving food for the famine victims to eat when an emaciated man approached. He was walking very slowly, and he was concealing his face with his sleeve.
黔敖 lifted food and water and called very disrespectfully, "Hey! You! Get over here and eat this!"
The starving man widened his eyes and stared at the proffered food, then said, "The very reason that I look like this is because I refuse to accept food given in such a manner!"