身体髪膚これを父母に受くあえて毀傷せざるは孝の始めなり
Meanings
1
filial piety begins with not harming one's own body
Proverb from The Classic of Filial Piety (孝経). Teaches that because one's body is a gift from one's parents, preserving it from injury is the first step of filial devotion. Used in traditional ethical contexts; rarely heard in daily conversation.
The phrase 'filial piety begins with not harming one's own body, as one's entire body was given by one's parents' is a passage from The Classic of Filial Piety.