饶

• Pinyin: ráo
• Hanzi breakdown: 饶 = 食 + 尧 (food abundance + sage ruler — generous mercy beyond what is owed)

Meaning

To spare; to let someone off; to have mercy on someone and forgo punishment. Used in pleading or clemency contexts.

饶命 (spare my life) and 饶了我吧 (please let me off) are common pleading expressions. 不饶人 (unforgiving; merciless) describes a harsh person or unrelenting situation. More literary and emotive than 原谅, often implying a power imbalance between the one pleading and the one deciding.

Examples

1. 他苦苦哀求对方饶他一命，但对方无动于衷，令旁观者唏嘘不已。 He begged desperately for his life, but the other side remained unmoved, leaving onlookers sighing in dismay.
2. 即便如此，上司仍不饶人，坚持要追究相关人员的全部责任。 Even so, the supervisor refused to let anyone off, insisting on holding all relevant personnel fully accountable.
3. 她虽性格宽厚，却绝不会轻易饶了那些蓄意伤害她的人。 Though she is generous by nature, she will never easily let off those who deliberately hurt her.

Usage Guide

Context: conflict, power dynamics, forgiveness, literary

Tone: emotive

Do Say

• 他跪地求饶，但法官表示此案情节恶劣，法律面前不能对任何人网开一面。(He knelt and begged for mercy, but the judge stated that the circumstances of this case were serious and that the law could not make exceptions for anyone.)
• 老人说，人这一辈子要学会饶人，因为宽容别人其实也是在解放自己。(The elderly man said that in this life one must learn to spare others, because forgiving people is in fact a way of liberating oneself.)

Don't Say

• 我饶了这道菜没吃 — use 我没吃这道菜 or 我跳过了这道菜; 饶 in the sense of sparing applies to people, not to food or objects

Origin & History

饶 = 食 (food/nourishment) + 尧 (legendary sage emperor Yao, known for benevolence) — originally: abundant generosity; extended: merciful leniency

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal