Cultural dislocation

[flemmings]

I'm sure my Chinese-speaking friends go through this all the time, but it's a first for me.

So here I am with my Power Japanese book, Kanji Idioms, a run-down of four-kanji expressions such as, say, shoushin shoumei 正真正銘　(the real thing, the genuine article) or the famous kiyou binbou　器用貧乏 (inevitably-- 'jack of all trades but master of none').

Comments

[paleaswater]

Actually, I think up until Ming dynasty the story apparently did refer to Fu Chai in certain sources. It was only later that the story was transferred to Gou Jian.

[flemmings]

Odd, then, that so old and so non-mainstream a version should have stuck around in someone's Japanese memory, when modern-day Japanese works go by the version we're used to.

[paleaswater]

my theory has always been that it's in waves -- there's the Tang dynasty imports, and then there are the later ones. I guess it depends on the which wave it falls in.

[flemmings]

Thing is, I can't see anyone but the Tokugawa taking an interest in Gou Jian, and the Tokugawa were well after the start of Ming so should have promulgated our received version. Tang stuff influenced uhh Heian IIRC, and the Heian people didn't do resolute warriors. So when did this older alternate source get stuck in the Japanese consciousness, I wonder.Can't even see Kamakura being up on t.

[paleaswater]

Also 正真正銘 and 器用貧乏 are phrase that the Japanese made up. They're quite mystifying to me.

[flemmings]

You can sort of tell which phrases were originally Chinese and which are Japanese manufacture. The Chinese ones have the recherche 'we'll have to borrow the fonts from the Chinese wordpack' kanji.

[tekalynn]

What I want to know is what the servants said when they saw all that liver on the floor.

[flemmings]

The Etsu were tattooed barbarians. Probably the servants said 'Yum!'

[feliciter]

he covered the floor of his bedroom with the livers of wild animals...licked up all the liver

*CANNOT UNSEE*

ded of lulz brb

[flemmings]

It's worse if you see it as Uncle Ming, down on all fours like Nebuchadnezzar eating grass licking livers.

...oh dear. I think I just broke something inside.

[rasetsunyo]

LICKED UP ALL THE LIVER

Too awesome for words.

[avalonjones]

Clearly the man was a badass beyond compare!