Today will be the last Yojijukugo post that starts with や、ゆ、or よ! Maybe not the last one FOREVER, but I think we've got enough to smack the smile off of any uppity bangumis that wanna tell us WE don't know Yojijukugo.
(Though, while we're still here, I'd personally like to request that Nirav make a KN^4 post on 余裕, cause seriously, that business is complicated!)
Today's entry is a great one to know as a foreigner in Japan, because I think it aptly describes the attitude that many of us are prone to adopting when we forget that we're not as awesome as Japan can make us feel.
Also, I found the PERFECT picture for this. BOOM!
Definition: 自分の力量をわきまえず、仲間うちで威張ること。知識も力もないのに尊大にふるまうことのたとえ。 Translations: 1. Getting a big head about being a big fish in a small pond, while forgetting that the world is mostly ocean. 2. Using your strength to be the boss of your microcosm, in a way that fails to acknowledge your real worth in the macrocosm. (What's your worth in the macrocosm NOW, fish?) 3. Act with reckless arrogance.
自大, using the kanji for "oneself" and "big" are apparent enough. 夜郎, rather than being ateji for 野郎、is actually the name of a very tiny independent country that we call Yelang in what is now China. The king of Yelang, upon receiving an emissary from the Han Dynasty (yeah, THAT Han Dynasty) displayed remarkably poor judgement (as well of a lack of knowledge about what the Han Dynasty was) and made some unfortunate boasts.
Use 夜郎自大 with になる。Or you can say of someone or something: 夜郎自類である。
例文： この学校の六年生の態度はやばいですね。行動を正してやる先輩もないし、夜郎自大になってしまいました。来年は中学生になることを知識してないみたい。 This school's 6th graders are rough, huh? With no older students to keep them in line, they've gotten recklessly arrogant. It's like they've forgotten that they're gonna be middle school first years in just a year.
Continuing this week with the 2 kanji yo-ji theme, we're getting into military territory with 正々堂々.
正 means "true," or "regular." Shows up in 正しい （ただしい）and 正午 (しょうご）and makes things correct, or exact. Double it up, 正正, and you get 'accurate,' 'punctual,' or 'neat.'
堂 makes buildings. 本堂 is the main temple building, 食堂 is a cafeteria, etc. Doubled up, 堂々 is 'magnificent'... or just 'fair.' Definition: 態度や方法が正しくて立派なさま。陣営などの勢いが盛んなさま。 Translations: 1. Fair and square. 2. Aboveboard. 3. Energetic, vigorous, in an organized way.
This last translation comes from the origin of 正々堂々: Sun Tzu's Art of War. In fact, this yo-ji is a shortened version of this longer quote, translated from the original Chinese: 「正正の旗を邀（むか）うることなく、堂堂の陣を撃つことなし。」 My best translation is: Do not face off against the stately banner, do not attack the well-prepared formation. Not very a good rendition, but it gets the idea across. Imagine a flawless military regiment, in perfect formation, well drilled, and ready for action. It was one of Sun Tzu's most basic strategic concepts: Don't engage an enemy you can't beat; 正正堂堂した敵と戦わないように...
How it made the transition from the idea of high spirits, preparedness, and efficiency at war to today's more common usage, "fair and square," is less clear to me. Maybe it has to do with setting itself at odds with Sun Tzu's philosophy which was all about deception.
Note: I didn't know it at the time, but 風林火山 also comes from Sun Tzu.
Probably not a good idea to try to use the same yo-ji twice in the same sentence with two different meanings, but... 例文：孫子は正々堂々した敵と戦わない方がいいと言いましたが、僕は正々堂々していない人も相手にしたくないです。 Sun Tzu advises not pitting yourself against someone who knows the rules better than you, but I don't want to go up against someone who doesn't play fair either.
A while ago, I read the English translation of a book called「 蛇にピアス」 ("Snakes with Piercings," or "Pierced Snakes" might have been a better title than Snakes and Earrings, which it was published as). It's about a young girl who gets involved with some guys who are into body modification and sado-masochism and possibly murder? I didn't think it was anything really special, but it looks like it's sensationalist enough to warrant a movie! You can check out the trailer at the bottom of this post.
Anyway, I mention it because the main character gets a mural tattoo on her back of a Kirin, the mythical Japanese (er... Chinese) beast most famous in the west for being a brand of beer. I can't remember if she specifies it, or the tattoo artist advises it, but she ends up deciding not to have the Kirin's pupils drawn in. This is because of an ancient Japanese (er... Chinese) legend, which also gives us today's yoji, which means something along the lines of "Adding the eyes on the painted dragon."
Definition: 最後に大切な部分に手を加えて仕上げをすること。 Translations: 1. The finishing touches. 2. The final strokes.
Look at our English equivalents. We use the painting metaphor, or the work of art metaphor to talk about finishing anything from a project at work, to an essay, to a meal, but why does the Japanese version specifically name a dragon? And honestly, if you were going to draw a dragon, or any animal-like thing, would you really draw the eyes last? Here's the legend that answers these's questions for you:
During the Northern and Southern Dynasties Period, (China, 1336-1392), there was a famous painter of the Southern Dynasty by the name of Yo. During this time, he received a commission and painted a mural of four white dragons on the wall of the Anraku Temple in Nanjing. The dragons he painted were positioned in such a way, and imbued with such lifelike vigor, that they looked as though they might burst through the wall and soar off into the sky (ascend into heaven) at any given moment. The effect was such that anyone who looked upon it couldn't help but draw a deep breath (swallow their breath, as though in awe... or fear). But the truly strange thing about the mural was that in all of the eyes of all of the dragons, Yo had not painted in the pupils. Somewhat perplexed, the people asked Yo for the reason he had not done so, and he answered simply "If I were to give them pupils, they'd take off into the sky and be gone." But of course, the people couldn't believe this, and demanded that he complete the mural by painting the eyes, without fail.
Having no recourse, Yo began to comply. He painted the eyes on the first dragon, and was putting the finishing touches on the second when all at once a bolt of lighting struck, shattering a portion of the wall, freeing the two completed dragons who hopped onto the nearest cloud and rode it away into the sky. After that, it seemed like a good idea after all to leave the remaining two white dragons without any eyes.
This is not the only incident in Japanese culture where the painting of the eyes garners significance though. Do you know about the still practiced tradition of painting eyes on Daruma? They even have Darumas that you can buy in toy vending machines, along with a sticker set to use for the eyes, like a cheaper, spiritual version of a Mister Potato Head.
Last note, but it's important to talk about the usage of 画竜点睛. While it can be used to refer to simply the fact that something is finally done (the all important Google image search reveals that it's used for things like business openings, building projects, those models of anime characters that hobbyists assemble themselves, or in mischevious references to a particular practice of omission common in manga: NSFW), it's mostly used like this:
画竜点睛を欠く, which means "lacking some final important detail without which, all the other work is useless."
Let's keep our example sentence in China as well.
例文：一生懸命作ったのに、ちゃんと英語ができる人に確認しなかったので、僕が作った看板の訳書は 画竜点睛を欠いています。 I worked as hard as I could on this, but because I didn't check my translation with someone who can speak English, this translated sign is worthless due to my inability to finish it off properly.
Okay, today's yoji is a special-bonus-hyper-super yoji. Why? Well, it's ridiculously rare. The yoji databank we link to has no mention of it, and rikaichan breaks down and starts crying if you hover your cursor over it. As such, finding information was especially difficult, but it became more worth it the more I knew.
For some background on how I even found out about this yoji, I was digging around online with a few different searches hoping to get some wartime expressions that found their way into every day language. This is common with yojis since a many of them come from China's Warring States Period, which is long and well-documented. Unsurprisingly, I found a few expressions we've already covered here, but took pause when I found this one. Rabbit die dog boil? The more strange the literal translation, the better the actual meaning. So without further ado...
Definition: うさぎが死んでしまえば、それを捕らえるのに用いられた猟犬は不必要となって、煮て食べられてしまう意。戦時に活躍した武将は、ひとたび太平の世となると、用なしとして殺されてしまうことをたとえた言葉。また、後に広く、利用価値があるときだけ用いられ、無用になると捨てられてしまうことのたとえ。 Translations: 1. Outliving one's usefulness. 2. Only using something or someone as long as they are useful.
The examples nestled in the definition are both excellent. The first is the idea of going on a hunting trip and, what do you know, you kill all the rabbits in the area. So now what are you going to do with those hunting dogs? Easy - boil `em and eat `em! The second example is not much better, and cites examples of wartime vets getting killed in times of peace after they are no longer needed. Good times!
The source on this one is an old book called "韓非子" that records a bunch of ideology from the Warring States period. I wish I could have found more information on how it was used, but most Japanese sources I found stopped at that book title. The really interesting thing is how often searching for this yielded Korean websites, which I cannot yet pin on racism or it being an expression with some Korean roots (which I initially thought when seeing the book's title). For the past few days my Korean friend has mysteriously gone MIA, which is inconvenient, as he has not yet outlived his usefulness...but maybe he knows what will happen after I grill him about this yoji...
First thing tomorrow, I'm going to quiz my fellow workers on this yoji. You all do the same, so we can see if this only exists in rare texts or you can get away with saying it without looking like you're just making stuff up.
Bonus edit: My friend popped up online first thing in the morning, and we had a nice little yoji-related chat. It turns out that A. he knew the yoji I was talking about, and B. Koreans study 四字熟語 and other Chinese in junior high and high school the same way English speakers might study Latin. That revelation aside, even though he did know it, he admitted soon after that it's rare even in Korea, and all the teachers I'd asked today had never seen this yoji. So, a word of warning - if you do use this yoji, be prepared to explain the origin, and then to explain why you are SO AWESOME.
(hint - it's the DY)
例文： 競馬の世界の中で,怪我すると言うことは殺されるも同然だ。つまり兎死狗烹だ。 In the world of horse racing, an injury is as good as death. Having outlived their usefulness, they die for their troubles.
I think that I've found a yoji that defeats Rikai-chan! In fact, it defeats all of the Japanese teachers at the desks around me. I considered not posting this one, because it's SO Chinese that it's almost irrelevant (not that I mean to equate China with irrelevancy). But its history is really interesting, and it IS included in two of my "Increase your Japanese Power" books, and then... I remembered that the goal of this blog is to give you things to say that elevate you above the average speaker, even the average native-speaker. If you can ever pull this one off, you might have to explain it to the people around you, but they will be awestruck at your knowledge.
Definition: 敗戦の恥辱。他人から受けたひどいはずかしめ。また、それをリベンジする苦しみ。 Translation: 1. A crushing defeat or humiliation that instills a deep, burning desire for retribution. 2. The shame of being beaten; the suffering of the hunger for revenge
The first two Kanji are taken from the name of the capital city of the ancient Chinese Kingdom of Yue, which was around during the 春秋時代, or Spring and Autumn Period, (722-481 BC). There was a princess of Yue who married into the neighboring Kingdom of Wu, but decided she didn't like Wu all that much so she left her husband and fled back to her home. King Helu of Wu led a war on Yue over this insult, but he was defeated and mortally wounded. He made his son, King Fuchai of Wu vow to neither forgive nor forget their enemies in Yue until Wu honor was avenged.
This is NOT where the phrase originated. Remember, it's not Wu's shame that the yoji refers to. It's Yue's shame.
See, King Fuchai didn't forget, and he led a successful resurgence against Yue three years later, capturing Yue and it's King, Goujian of Yue. Instead of fully annexing Yue, as his advisors recommended, Fuchai decided to make a peace with them. And apparently, as per the terms of the peace, Fuchai chose to keep King Goujian and his minister Fan Li as slaves. They eventually earned their freedom (after three years) when King Fu Chai fell sick. Fan Li recognized the nature of Fu Chai's illness, and at his urgings Goujian went to offer a diagnosis. After Goujian performed a dramatic "examination," including checking the color and TASTE of Fu Chai's excrement, he assured Fu Chai of a quick recovery. When Fu Chai did in fact recover, he took the exchange as a sign that the two could forgive their old rivalry, and he allowed Goujian to return to power in his own Kingdom. But a man who must eat shit to earn his freedom does not soon forget the taste.
After his release, Goujian spent ten years rebuilding his kingdom's economic and military capabilities. He also undertook a complex campaign of bribery, espionage, and political intrigue designed to weaken the state of Wu on all possible fronts.
For this entire ten year period Goujian slept on sticks, dressed in rags, and ate food suitable for peasants, which he always prefaced by forcing himself to "taste bile." He did this so that he would never forget the conditions of his humiliation, and so that his thirst for revenge would never diminish. This, in itself, spawned this:
BONUS YOJI:
臥薪嘗胆 がしん しょうたん gashin shoutan The chinese write this as 卧薪尝胆 but, notice how "尝" shorts out Rikai-chan? The fact that the Japanese don't use this kanji necessitated the change.
Translation: Literal - Sleeping on brushwood and tasting gall. 1. Enduring the unthinkable for the sake of revenge. 2. Pursuing a goal no matter how high the cost.
So with his preparations in place, bile on his dinner table, and King Fuchai away on an expedition, King Goujian led his army to capture the Capital of Wu. He took the city in a blitzkrieg of blood (One of his tactics was to stock his front lines with condemned prisoners who would decapitate themselves at the outset of a battle as a method of intimidation). King Fu Chai fled to a palace in the mountains where he committed suicide after King Goujian refused to negotiate any terms of peace.
Wu became a part of the Yue Kingdom, and Yue became the last great power of the Spring and Autumn Period.
This site has all sorts of information about the conflict, and Chinese history in general.
Now that you know all of that, and have the background to explain not only the 意味 (meanings ) of these yoji but their 由来 (origin) as well, here's how you might be able to use them:
As far as 会稽之恥 and 臥薪嘗胆 go, 'revenge' doesn't have to mean getting back at someone who hurt you. It can be used in situations where a failure, particularly an embarassing one, drives you to retry that goal until you accomplish it... and force it to commit suicide.
I passed the JLPT 3kyuu last year and am gunning for 2kyuu. My passion to succeed is not as powerful, though, as someone who DIDN'T pass 2kyuu last year, and has set their sites on 1kyuu this time around.
例文： 前回不合格という会稽之恥を糧に、もう一度試験に挑戦する。俺の大好きなナンパ時間がなくなっても、焼酎を飲むことを止めるようになっても、先生のことが好きでいるふりをしないといけなくても、まさに臥薪嘗胆だ！ Fueled by the shame of my humiliating failure on that last examination, I'm gonna pass the hell out of the next one! Even if it means having no time to chase girls, giving up drinking, or having to pretend that I like my teacher, I'm gonna do this, no matter how much it costs me!
More stuff that goes in ears! I saw this one on a bangumi trivia quiz last night, and it was one of the questions that they gave to the NOT-so-smart Talento who were hanging around in last place, so if they oughta know it, we should too.
Definition: いくら言っても全く聞く耳を持たない、効果がないこと Translations: 1. Like talking to a wall 2. In one ear and out the other
It translates literally as: a buddhist prayer in a horse's ear, so unless you're talking about this horse, you can see how the phrase gains it's meaning of speaking/giving commands to an unreceptive audience.
You can use this phrase in any situation where the person or people you're talking to are not listening or understanding, and if you're a school teacher, I'd reccommend saying it ABOUT your students, rather than to your students as younger Japanese people won't necessarily know the expression you're referencing.
例文：毎日生徒たちに「授業中に喋るな！」と言っているけど、何か、馬の耳に念仏だ。 Everyday we tell the kids not to chat during class, but man, it's like talking to a wall. Today's picture comes from The White Horse Temple in Luoyang, China: the first buddhist temple on Chinese soil, known as the cradle of Chinese Buddhism. It's so named because, according to legend, a white horse bore the first Buddhist scriptures to China from India. So maybe horses aren't as un-receptive to Buddhism as the Japanese suppose.
When I first came to Saga, I sat near a substitute science teacher with whom I liked to eat lunch and talk English/Japanese (and no, this isn't a typo, I mean it in the same sense as "talk shop") He would also teach me little Japanese phrases, most of them born in a military vein, which actually interest me a lot more than most idioms since I've always been fascinated with the wartime aspects of Japanese history.
...which is kinda ironic seeing as this idiom is 100% Chinese in origin. Translating the phrase strictly by Japanese interpretations of the kanji will leave you only with a bit of a meaning and none of the history. 四面 is changed easily enough to "on all four sides", but it's the 楚(briar/thorn) and 歌(song) that'll trip you up. So the thorny song from all sides might imply that you're either in a pinch, or - per American folklore - you just escaped Brer Fox.
Definition: 周りを敵や反対者に囲まれて孤立し、助けのない状態のたとえ。孤立無援。 Translations: 1. To be completely surrounded by enemies on all sides, in a situation where no help will come. 2. To fight alone and isolated.
Chinese history lesson time! As a quick warning, this was meant to be short, but I got caught up in the research...
After the fall of the Qin Dynasty in 206 BC, the two major contenders for the throne were the Han - led by 劉邦(Liu Bang) - and the Chu - led by 項羽 (Xiang Yu). They fought for 4 years until 202 BC, when Lui Bang surrounded the remainder of Xiang Yu's forces in a canyon, which they had entered in order to rescue Xiang Yu's captured wife. By this point Lui Bang had already conquered a large part of Chu, Xiang Yu's homeland, and thus had many Chu troops in his ranks. He gave the order that all of his troops sing Chu songs, giving Xiang Yu's remaining soldiers the impression that the rest of their countrymen had already been conquered by - and even worse, subsequently joined - their enemies. It's important to note now that 楚 means "Chu" in Chinese, and thus it is "The Song of Chu on all sides".
Their spirits broken, most of Xiang Yu's troops fled on their own, and Xiang Yu's wife - blaming herself for having been the reason the army was caught in this trap - committed suicide. Xiang Yu was eventually able to break free with a tiny contingent of loyal warriors, but after countless misdirections, near escapes, and killing a few hundred men on his own (who refused to make mortal strikes, having been given the order to take him alive), he committed suicide.
例文： 言葉が分からない国に引越しすることは怖いところもあります。友達もいないで、簡単な表現することはできなくては真の孤独を感じられる。だが知らない人は敵じゃないだろう？それで「四面楚歌だ！」と言うな！その言葉を勉強して、仲間を会ったら、万事うまくいくよ！ Translation: Moving to a country where you don'tt speak the language can be scary. You don't have any friends, and your inability to express yourself in even simple terms can give you the feeling of being all alone. But the people you don't know aren't really your enemies, persae, so don't go shouting that everybody's against you. Just learn the language, make some friends, and it'll all be good.
We have tons of Japanese grammar and idiomatic expressions, as well as proverbs and trivia in our archived posts. Please check them out! For an explanation of the kinds of posting we're doing these days, see this post.
Living and working in Saga-ken, Kyushuu, dedicated to one day passing the 1-kyuu JLPT, and therefore being able to start on some other languages as well. Check out his Youtube Channel by clicking the picture!
Brett Staebell (Defendership)
While questing in the Rocky Mountains - only hours away from Denver, his birthplace and home - Brett discovered a magical talisman that whisked him halfway around the world to the remote island of Kyushu. Now hellbent on either finding a way home or a time machine that'll let him go back in time hundreds of years to hang out with samurai, he hones his language skills by posting on the Daily Yoji and sharpens his combat skills by pummeling the elementary school children he teaches.
Nirav Mehta (sqrtlsqd)
Nirav's only here because he's a friend. He's not really that good at Japanese, but go easy on him. He's sensitive.
Also, I found the PERFECT picture for this. BOOM!
I don't know how accurate this story is, as the accounts of said king also include a Taketori Monogatari-esque birth...
