| Yoji-Jukugo (3) | |
|
Yoji-jukugo (four character kanji compounds) are idiomatic expressions made up of four kanji characters. Japanese is normally written with three types of scripts: kanji, hiragana and katakana, but these idiomatic words are written in kanji only and with no kana between them.
Yoji-jukugo contain classical wisdom or morals in short phrases. In English there are words that people use which make them sound intelligent or denote higher education. Japanese also has words that educated people are more likely to know. Yoji-jukugo are such words. There are hundreds of yoji-jukugo. Some of them are not even familiar to the Japanese, therefore they are often asked at a school entrance examination to test one's knowledge.
This is the third lesson of yoji-jukugo. If you missed previous lessons, click here.
In this lesson I collected some yoji-jukugo that can be used as tattoo designs. Kanji tattoos seem to be very popular. I receive kanji requests for tattoos quite often. Some people ask the kanji characters for certain phrases, but the phrases are usually written with a combination of the three scripts (mainly hiragana and kanji). For example, the words like "love" and "faith" are written in kanji, but the phrases like "I love you" and "Keep the faith" can not be written in kanji only. If you wish to write some proverbs or thoughts in kanji, Yoji-jukugo can be a solution!
Click the link to hear the pronunciation.
It means, "equipped with both brains and beauty." It is mostly used to refer to a woman.
Literally means "visit the past to know the new." A wider translation is, "a study of the classics is the springboard for new research."
This is one of my favorites. It can be literally translated as "silent action." It means, "action speaks louder than words."
Literally means, "a complete change of heart." A wider translation is, "making a fresh start in life, turning over a new leaf."
Literally means, "great talents mature late." A wider translation is, "to achieve greatness late in life."
