愚公山を移す

Japanese
Kanji in this term
愚 公 山 移
ぐ
Grade: S		 こう
Grade: 2		 やま
Grade: 1		 うつ
Grade: 5
kan’on kun’yomi

Etymology

Calque of Literary Chinese 愚公移山 (yúgōngyíshān, literally “stupid old man moves mountains”), 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 God hears about them and is so impressed with their ambition and dedication that he arranges to have the mountains moved. (See Citations:愚公移山 for the full story.)

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

Proverb

愚(ぐ)公(こう)山(やま)を移(うつ)す • (gukō yama o utsusu) 

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

References
  1. Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
  2. Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
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