135Japanese idiom 四字熟語
晴耕雨読
せいこううどくSeikō udoku
“Plow when it shines, read when it rains.”
The meaning
Tune your activity to the weather: outside when the sky allows, inside when it rains. A life set to the seasons rather than against them.
At the origin
An ideal of retired, balanced living, dear to East Asian scholars.
The characters
In practice
Fit your day to the weather — outer or inner — instead of forcing it.
Themes
Similar proverbs
- 162 五月雨をあつめて早し最上川 Gathering the rains of June, how swiftly flows the Mogami.
- 225 五月雨や大河を前に家二軒 June rains — facing the swollen river, two houses.
- 111 花は盛りに、月は隈なきをのみ見るものかは Should we look at blossoms only in full bloom, at the moon only when it is clear?
- 220 雪とけて村いっぱいの子どもかな Snow has melted — the village is full of children.
- 224 うまさうな雪がふうはりふはりかな How delicious it looks, the falling snow — softly, fluffily down.