【義不容辭】to be necessary for someone / inescapable duty
"義不容辭" means that it is morally imperative (必要的) not to refuse.
This idiom is often used to describe situations where one feels obligated to help with something, and cannot shirk this responsibility due to a sense of duty.
An early example can be found in the inscription on the stele of the late Duke Wen of Yu(虞恭公溫公碑),
the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel and
Pillar of State(〈唐故特進尚書右僕射上柱國虞恭公溫公碑〉), written by Cen
Wenben(岑文本) of the Tang Dynasty.
The inscription contains the phrase "夫顯微闡幽，義不容辭," meaning that revealing hidden merits is a moral obligation the author cannot shirk.
In Chapter 58 of *Romance of the Three Kingdoms*, Cao Cao (曹操) amassed an army of 300,000 to avenge the Battle of Red Cliffs(赤壁) .
Sun Quan(孫權) summoned his generals to discuss countermeasures.
Zhang Zhao(張昭) suggested
sending Lu Su(魯肅) to Jingzhou(荊州) to seek
cooperation with Liu Bei(劉備),
because "Zijing (Lu Su) has been kind to Xuande (Liu Bei), and his words will surely be heeded;
moreover, Xuande(玄德) is the son-in-law of Eastern Wu, so it is also morally imperative to comply."
It turns out that many of Liu Bei's dealings with Eastern Wu were facilitated by Lu Su (Zijing), and Zhou Yu's(周瑜) blunder led to Liu Bei marrying Sun Quan's sister.
Originally, the Sun and Liu families each harbored their
own ulterior (別有用心的) motives.
Now, having become in-laws, they should morally be
obligated to cooperate in resisting Cao Cao's
army;
therefore, it is "an inescapable duty."
~ Ministry of
Education Idiom Dictionary
「義不容辭」的意思就是說道義上不容許推辭。這句成語常用在對需要自己出力協助的事情，因道義責任，不容自己推卸的情況。比較早的文獻資料，見於唐代岑文本所撰的〈唐故特進尚書右僕射上柱國虞恭公溫公碑〉，碑文中有「夫顯微闡幽，義不容辭」兩句，意思是說彰顯隱微的功德，是作者在道義上不容推卸的事。
在《三國演義》第五八回中提到曹操集結三十萬大軍南下報赤壁之仇，孫權召請諸將來商議對策，其中張昭建議派魯肅前去荊州找劉備合作，因為「子敬有恩於玄德，其言必從；且玄德既為東吳之婿，亦義不容辭」。
原來劉備當時和東吳的許多事，多虧魯肅（子敬）從中穿梭幫忙，加上因為周瑜弄巧成拙，讓劉備娶了孫權的妹妹。
本來孫劉兩家各懷鬼胎，這下結了親家，對協力抵抗曹操大軍這件事上，在道義上，應該不會推卸，所以說是「義不容辭」。
~ 教育部成語典
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