Illegal French Lesson: “The World Is for Everyone”—Le monde est masculin

Readers should care about the world and pay attention to “the world,” as people did during the Occupy Wall Street movement a while ago.

This protester even wrote the slogan “All under heaven belongs to the public” in Chinese.

The slogan “All under heaven belongs to the public” became widely known, including overseas, largely because Sun Yat-sen strongly promoted it.

Meaning: Is “the world” public property? In French, le monde (“the world,” “humanity”) is masculine. The sky (le ciel) and heaven (le paradis) are masculine, too!

A note: People unfamiliar with French or classical Chinese may misunderstand “the world is public” as an expression of machismo.

Further reading: The phrase “All under heaven belongs to the public” comes from the Book of Rites: “When the Great Way is practiced, all under heaven belongs to the public.”