玉の緒

Japanese
Kanji in this term
玉 緒
たま
Grade: 1		 お
Grade: S
kun’yomi

Etymology

Compound of 玉 (たま) (tama, “bead, gem”) + の (no, possessive particle) + 緒 (お) (o, “cord, thread”).

The "life" sense comes from the homophone of 玉 (​tama) with its likely derivation 魂 (tama, “soul, spirit”).

Pronunciation

Noun

玉の緒 (hiragana たまのお, rōmaji tama no o, historical hiragana たまのを)

  1. a bead string; a jewelled necklace
    • c. 759, Man'yōshū (book 20, poem 4493), text here (also Shin Kokin Wakashū, poem 708, text here)
      始 (はつ)春 (はる)乃 (の)波 (は)都 (つ)祢 (ね)乃 (の)家 (け)布 (ふ)能 (の)多 (た)麻 (ま)婆 (ば)波 (は)伎 (き)手 (て)尓 (に)等 (と)流 (る)可 (か)良 (ら)尓 (に)由 (ゆ)良 (ら)久 (く)多 (た)麻 (ま)能 (の)乎 (を) [Man'yōgana]
      初 (はつ)春 (はる)の初 (はつ)子 (ね)の今 (け)日 (ふ)の玉 (たま)箒 (ばはき)手 (て)に取 (と)るからに揺 (ゆ)らく玉 (たま)の緒 (を) [Modern spelling]
      hatsuharu no hatsune no kyö no tamabahaki te ni toru kara ni yuraku tama no o
      At the first of spring on the first Day of the Rat I take in hand the jewel broom, and all my soul tingles with the tinkling gems.[2]
  2. (figuratively) life, existence
    • 1205, Shin Kokin Wakashū (book 11 poem 1034), text here (also Shokushi-naishinnō-shū, poem 319; Hyakunin Isshu, poem 89)
      玉 (たま)の緒 (を)よ絶 (た)えなば絶 (た)えねながらへば忍 (しの)ぶることの弱 (よわ)りもぞする
      tama no o yo taenaba taene nagaraeba shinoburu koto no yowari mo zo suru
      String of beads, if you must break, break; if you last longer, my endurance is sure to weaken.[3]
    • 1216, Teika-kyō Hyakuban Jika-awase (Lord Teika's One Hundred Round Own Poem Contest, poem 188, right, winner)
      思 (おも)ふことむなしき夢 (ゆめ)の中 (なか)空 (ぞら)に絶 (た)ゆとも絶 (た)ゆなつらき玉 (たま)の緒 (を)
      omou koto munashiki yume no nakazora ni tayu tomo tayu natsuraki tama no o
      Though all my hopes be shattered, leaving no trace, in the sky of empty dreams, do not shatter, o jeweled strand of life, however sorrows may try you.[4]
    Synonyms: 命 (inochi), 生命 (seimei)
  3. Synonym of 見せばや (misebaya): Siebold's stonecrop (Hylotelephium sieboldii)

Derived terms
  • 玉 (たま)の緒 (お)の (tama no o no, pillow word)
  • 玉 (たま)の緒 (お)繰分 (くりわけ) (Tama-no-o Kuriwake)
  • 玉 (たま)の緒 (お)柳 (やなぎ) (tama-no-o yanagi)

Proverb

玉の緒 (hiragana たまのお, rōmaji tama no o, historical hiragana たまのを)

  1. by connecting beads into a string thereby making the space shorter, shortness of something
    • 10th century, Ise Monogatari (poem 30)
      逢 (あ)ふことは玉 (たま)の緒 (を)ばかり思 (おも)ほえてつらき心 (こころ)の長 (なが)く見 (み)ゆらむ
      au koto wa tama no o bakari omōete tsuraki kokoro no nagaki miyuran
      Our meetings are short as the spaces between the gems of a necklace. Longer-lasting indeed is your heartlessness.[5]

References
  1. 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  2. Edwin A. Cranston (1998) The Gem-Glistening Cup, Stanford University Press, →ISBN, page 481
  3. Princess Shikishi, Hiroaki Sato (1993) String of Beads: Complete Poems of Princess Shikishi, University of Hawaii Press, →ISBN, page 104
  4. Roselee Bundy (2006), “Solo Poetry Contest as Poetic Self-Portrait: The One-Hundred-Round Contest of Lord Teika's Own Poems: Part One.”, in Monumenta Nipponica‎
  5. Helen Craig McCullough (1968) Tales of Ise: Lyrical Episodes from Tenth-century Japan, Stanford University Press, →ISBN, page 93
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