鏡花水月

See also: 镜花水月

Chinese
mirror; lens
 
flower; blossom; to spend; fancy pattern
 water; river moon; month
trad. (鏡花水月) 鏡 花 水 月
simp. (镜花水月) 镜 花 水 月
Literally: “flower in the mirror, moon on the water”.

Etymology
崢嶸棟梁，一旦而摧。水月鏡像，無心去來。 [Classical Chinese, trad.][▼ expand/hide]
峥嵘栋梁，一旦而摧。水月镜像，无心去来。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]
From: Tang dynasty, Pei Xiu (裴休), 《唐故左街僧錄內供奉三教談論引駕大德安國寺上座賜紫方袍大達法師元秘塔碑銘》（並序）
Zhēngróng dòngliáng, yī dàn ér cuī. Shuǐyuè jìngxiàng, wúxīn qùlái. [Pinyin]
(please add an English translation of this example)
阿彌陀佛，為人在世，原是鏡花水月。 [MSC, trad.][▼ expand/hide]
阿弥陀佛，为人在世，原是镜花水月。 [MSC, simp.]
From: Qing dynasty, Qian Cai (錢彩), Jin Feng (金豐), 《說岳全傳》
Ēmítuófó, wéirén zàishì, yuánshì jìnghuāshuǐyuè. [Pinyin]
Amitābha, a person's life is originally a fantasy.
鏡花水月閑消遣，何必名賢勝地逢。 [MSC, trad.][▼ expand/hide]
镜花水月闲消遣，何必名贤胜地逢。 [MSC, simp.]
From: Qing dynasty, Hua Guangsheng (華廣生), 《白雪遺音》
Jìnghuāshuǐyuè xián xiāoqiǎn, hébì míngxián shèngdì féng. [Pinyin]
(please add an English translation of this example)

Pronunciation

Idiom

鏡花水月

  1. (literally) flowers reflected on a mirror and the moon reflected in the water
  2. (figuratively) fantasy, illusion, mere shadow, phantom, vision, something that is visible but having no substance
  3. (figuratively) the subtle and profound beauty of poems that should not be comprehended by words literally

Synonyms

Japanese
Kanji in this term
鏡 花 水 月
きょう
Grade: 4		 か
Grade: 1		 すい
Grade: 1		 げつ
Grade: 1
on’yomi

Etymology

Borrowed from Chinese 鏡花水月 above. See Etymology in Chinese section.

Pronunciation
  • On’yomi
    • (Tokyo) きょ​ーかすいげつ [kyóꜜòkà sùìgètsù] (Atamadaka – [1])[1]
    • IPA(key): [kʲo̞ːka̠ sɨᵝiɡe̞t͡sɨᵝ]

Noun

鏡花水月 (hiragana きょうかすいげつ, rōmaji kyōka suigetsu, historical hiragana きやうくわすいげつ)

  1. flowers reflected on a mirror and the moon reflected on the water's surface
  2. (by extension, idiomatic) something that is visible but having no substance; illusion, mere shadow, phantom, vision
  3. the subtle and profound beauty of poems that cannot be described in words​

Derived terms
  • 鏡 (きょう)花 (か)水 (すい)月 (げつ)法 (ほう) (kyōka suigetsu-hō): a style of expression or storytelling that does not directly describe things, and instead indirectly evokes the appearance of things

Anagrams
  • 水 (すい)月 (げつ)鏡 (きょう)花 (か) (suigetsu kyōka, quasi-synonym)

References
  1. 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
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