燕雀安んぞ鴻鵠の志を知らんや
Japanese
| Kanji in this term | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 燕 | 雀 | 安 | 鴻 | 鵠 | 志 | 知 |
| えん Jinmeiyō |
じゃく Jinmeiyō |
いずく Grade: 3 |
こう Jinmeiyō |
こく Hyōgai |
こころざし Grade: 5 |
し Grade: 2 |
| kan'on | kun'yomi | kan'on | kun'yomi | |||
Etymology
From the 史記 (Shiki, “Records of the Grand Historian”).[1][2][3]
Calque of Literary Chinese 燕雀安知鴻鵠志 (yànquè ān zhī hónghú zhì, literally “[small birds such as] swallows and sparrows cannot understand the aspirations of [large birds such as] swans”).
Proverb
燕雀安んぞ鴻鵠の志を知らんや • (enjaku izukunzo kōkoku no kokorozashi o shiran'ya)
Derived terms
- 鴻鵠の志 (kōkoku no kokorozashi)
References
- ^ Shōgaku Tosho (1988) 国語大辞典（新装版） [Unabridged Dictionary of Japanese (Revised Edition)] (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan, →ISBN
- ^ Matsumura, Akira, editor (1995), 大辞泉 [Daijisen] (in Japanese), First edition, Tokyo: Shogakukan, →ISBN
- ^ Matsumura, Akira, editor (2006), 大辞林 [Daijirin] (in Japanese), Third edition, Tokyo: Sanseidō, →ISBN