109Japanese quotation 名言
ゆく河の流れは絶えずして、しかももとの水にあらず
ゆくかわのながれはたえずして、しかももとのみずにあらずYuku kawa no nagare wa taezushite, shikamo moto no mizu ni arazu
“The river flows on and on, and yet the water is never the same.”
The meaning
Everything renews constantly: the river remains, the water changes. Seeing the world this way teaches not to cling — and to welcome what comes.
At the origin
The first sentence of the "Hōjōki" (1212) by Kamo no Chōmei, one of the most famous texts of Japanese literature.
The characters
- ゆく yukuflowing on
- 河 kawariver
- の noof (link)
- 流れ
- は
- 絶えずして
- 、
- しかも
- もと
- の
- 水
- に
- あらず
のParticleLinks two words: possession or belonging, like “of”.
In practice
What seemed unchangeable to you has already changed: look at it anew.
Themes
Similar proverbs
- 208 水に流す Let the water carry it away.
- 026 覆水盆に返らず Spilled water does not return to the tray.
- 160 古池や蛙飛び込む水の音 Old pond — a frog leaps in, sound of water.
- 165 朝顔に釣瓶とられてもらい水 A morning glory has claimed my well bucket — I beg water next door.
- 213 荒海や佐渡によこたふ天河 Wild sea — stretched over Sado Island, the River of Heaven.
Related expressions
- 225 五月雨や大河を前に家二軒 June rains — facing the swollen river, two houses.
- 226 夏河を越すうれしさよ手に草履 What happiness, crossing the summer river, sandals in hand!
- 299 国破れて山河あり The country is broken; mountains and rivers remain.
- 294 智に働けば角が立つ。情に棹させば流される。意地を通せば窮屈だ。 Act on reason, and you grow sharp-cornered. Pole along feeling, and you are swept away. Force your will, and you are cramped. Decidedly, the human world is hard to live in.