愚公山を移す

Japanese

Kanji in this term

Grade: S
こう
Grade: 2
やま
Grade: 1
うつ
Grade: 5
kan’on kun’yomi

Etymology

From Literary Chinese 愚公移山, an anecdote in the Chinese Taoist work Liezi.[1][2]

In the story, two large mountains stand before the house of a character named 愚公 (literally "stupid old man"), impeding access, so the character and his family begin moving the mountains. A different character portrayed as a clever wag derides the family for their foolishness in moving the mountains instead of their house, but the emperor hears about them and is so impressed with their ambition and dedication that he arranges to have the mountains moved.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): [ɡɯ̟ᵝko̞ː ja̠ma̠ o̞ ɯ̟ᵝt͡sɨᵝsɨᵝ]

Proverb

愚公山を移す (hiragana ぐこうやまをうつす, rōmaji gukō yama o utsusu)

  1. perseverance and hard work can overcome any obstacle; where there's a will, there's a way

References

  1. 1988, 国語大辞典(新装版) (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan
  2. 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
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