Four-Character Idiom · People & Bonds · Kyojuro Rengoku
捨生取義
Meaning
To give up one's own life in order to preserve the right course — the Confucian extremity of moral commitment, articulated by Mencius.
自らの命を捨ててでも、人として踏み行うべき正しい道を守り抜くこと。
The Kyojuro Rengoku line
Verbatim from the source article
「竈門少年が死んでしまったら俺の負けになってしまうぞ」
"AND IF YOU DIE, I WON'T HAVE MY VICTORY ANYMORE."
Why it fits Kyojuro Rengoku
Rengoku reframes losing his own life as merely a possible outcome — what would constitute "losing" is letting Tanjiro die. That valuation is shasei-shugi in plain Japanese: the self is bargained against the righteous outcome, and the bargain is already conceded.
Cultural note
Origin in classical / Buddhist / Confucian tradition
From Mencius 6A.10: 「生も亦た我が欲する所なり、義も亦た我が欲する所なり。二者得て兼ぬべからずんば、生を舎てて義を取らんなり」.
Sources
- Weblio 中日辞典 — 捨生取義 (dictionary)