It means that it is difficult for women and villains in the world to cultivate their own righteousness and maintain their body, mind, nature and life.

Only villains and women are difficult to raise in the world. It is pronounced as: tiān xià wéi nǚ zǐ yǔ xiǎo rén nán yǎng yě.

Among them, they are only particles and have no real meaning. Nurturing means nourishing the body, mind, nature and life. It is difficult to cultivate, it is difficult to cultivate one's own awe-inspiring righteousness, and it is difficult to cultivate one's body, mind, nature and life.

Source: "The Analects of Confucius·Chapter 17·Yanghuo Chapter" written by Confucius's disciples and re-disciples during the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period: "Only women and villains are difficult to raise. Those who are close will not be inferior, and those who are far away will be resentful." ”

Translation: It is difficult for women and villains to cultivate their own righteousness and maintain their body, mind, nature and life, so they must be measured at a distance when dealing with them. It is easy to be disrespectful if they are too close. , breaking the rules; being too far away can easily lead to resentment, which is not conducive to the inheritance of Confucianism.

Extended information

The background when Confucius said this:

Confucius discovered after his trip to Wei that he was not only deceived by the monarch of Wei, He was also fooled by the villains around the King of Wei. Confucius then accused the monarch of Wei of listening to the villains around him: "I have never seen anyone who loves virtue as much as lust!" After Confucius left Wei, he sighed: "Only women and villains are difficult to raise! If you are close, you will not have grandchildren. "If you stay away, you will resent."

As a monarch, if you are too close to the flatterers who have no ability in the harem, they will get carried away, forget their identity, and start to use your power to do whatever they want. , and if you alienate them, they will complain again, which is very troublesome.

Before Confucius, Daji misled the country and played tricks on the princes. After Confucius, eunuchs were in power, and the queen's relatives disrupted the government many times and countless times.