261Japanese idiom 四字熟語
馬耳東風
ばじとうふうBaji tōfū
“Spring wind in a horse's ears.”
The meaning
The horse does not feel the sweetness of the east wind; some listen to advice that way. The idiom warns both ways — those who speak into the void, and those who no longer listen.
At the origin
An image from the Chinese poet Li Bai, now a Japanese idiom.
The characters
In practice
Spot the advice you let pass like wind — and listen to it once.
Editorial note
Chinese origin (poem by Li Bai).
Themes
Similar proverbs
- 107 物言えば唇寒し秋の風 As soon as words are spoken, the lips feel cold — autumn wind.
- 147 馬が合う Getting along like rider and horse.
- 148 竹馬の友 Friends of the bamboo stilts.
- 164 雀の子そこのけそこのけお馬が通る Little sparrows, make way, make way! The horse is passing.
- 295 雨ニモマケズ 風ニモマケズ Yielding neither to the rain, nor to the wind.