使命

• Pinyin: shǐ mìng
• Hanzi breakdown: 使 = 人 + 吏 (send, commission, envoy); 命 = 口 + 令 (order, mandate, destiny, life)

Meaning

Mission; mandate; calling. A weighty responsibility or duty entrusted to a person, organisation, or nation.

Implies a sense of historical or moral gravity — it is not merely a task but a duty of profound importance. Common in military, diplomatic, political, and organisational contexts. Collocations: 历史使命 (historical mission), 神圣使命 (sacred mission), 完成使命 (fulfil one's mission), 使命感 (sense of mission). Often used in mission statements, national narratives, and speeches to invoke collective responsibility.

Examples

1. 这一代年轻科研人员深感肩负着推动国家基础科学突破的历史使命，始终以高度的责任感投入研究工作。 This generation of young researchers deeply feels the weight of its historic mission to drive breakthroughs in the nation’s basic sciences, and they devote themselves to research with a strong sense of responsibility.
2. 外交官赴任时必须清晰认知自身的使命，在维护国家核心利益的前提下，妥善处理各类双边与多边事务。 When taking up a diplomatic post, a diplomat must clearly understand their mission and, while safeguarding the country’s core interests, properly handle all kinds of bilateral and multilateral affairs.
3. 这所大学将培养具备全球视野与人文关怀的复合型人才视为自身的核心使命，并将其贯穿于所有学科的课程设计之中。 This university regards cultivating well-rounded talent with a global perspective and humanistic concern as its core mission, and it weaves that mission into the curriculum design of every discipline.

Usage Guide

Context: military, diplomacy, politics, organisations, education, personal calling

Tone: solemn

Do Say

• 党章明确规定，共产党员肩负着为实现中华民族伟大复兴而奋斗的历史使命，这一使命贯穿党的全部奋斗历程之中。(The Party Constitution explicitly stipulates that Communist Party members bear the historical mission of striving for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation, a mission that runs through the entire course of the Party's struggle.)
• 这支医疗救援队在接到出发命令的两小时内迅速集结完毕，全体队员对此次赴灾区援助的使命充满了责任感与使命感。(This medical rescue team assembled rapidly within two hours of receiving the departure order; every team member was filled with a profound sense of responsibility and mission for this assignment to provide aid in the disaster zone.)

Don't Say

• 使命 for everyday tasks or minor assignments — use 任务 (task), 职责 (duty), or 工作 (work/job); 使命 is reserved for weighty responsibilities with moral, historical, or institutional gravity and sounds pompous when applied to routine work

Origin & History

使 (send, commission, cause to act) + 命 (mandate, order, destiny, life)

Cultural Context

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal