青は藍より出でて藍より青し

Calque of Chinese 青出於藍，而青於藍 (“blue comes from the indigo plant but is bluer than the plant itself”)

• Kun’yomi
  • IPA^(key): [a̠o̞ ɰᵝa̠ a̠i jo̞ɾʲi ide̞te̞ a̠i jo̞ɾʲi a̠o̞ɕi]

青は藍より出でて藍より青し (shinjitai kanji, kyūjitai kanji 靑は藍より出でて藍より靑し, hiragana あおはあいよりいでてあいよりあおし, rōmaji ao wa ai yori idete ai yori aoshi, historical hiragana あをはあゐよりいでてあゐよりあをし)

1. the student has surpassed his or her teacher