| mirror; lens | flower; blossom; to spend flower; blossom; to spend; fancy pattern | water; river | moon; month |
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| trad.(鏡花水月) | 鏡 | 花 | 水 | 月 |
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| simp.(镜花水月) | 镜 | 花 | 水 | 月 |
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| Literally: “flower in the mirror, moon on the water”. |
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From metaphors common inMahāyāna Buddhism, especially in thePrajñāpāramitā literature:Sanskritप्रतिबिम्ब(pratibimba,“reflected image”) andदकचन्द्र(dakacandra, literally“water-moon”).[1] Early attestations in Chinese include the translation of thePañcaviṃśatisāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitāsūtra by theKhotanese monk Mokṣala (無羅叉)[291]. The following attestations are from the works ofKumārajīva:[2]
若非色之物，則異今事。如鏡中像，水中月，見如有色，而無觸等，則非色也。[Classical Chinese,trad.]
若非色之物，则异今事。如镜中像，水中月，见如有色，而无触等，则非色也。[Classical Chinese,simp.]- From:Late 4th century–early 5th century,Hui Yuan (慧遠) andKumārajīva (鳩摩羅什(Jiūmóluóshí)),The Correspondences of Hui Yuan and Kumārajīva (《鳩摩羅什法師大義》),T1856
- Ruò fēisè zhī wù, zé yì jīn shì. Rújìng zhōng xiàng, shuǐ zhōng yuè, jiàn rú yǒu sè, ér wú chù děng, zé fēisè yě.[Pinyin]
- If it is a formless object, then it is different from the matters of today. It is likean image in the mirror or the moon in the water, which appear to have a form but cannot be touched and such; these are formless.
解了諸法，如幻，如焰，如水中月，如虛空，如響，如揵闥婆城，如夢，如影，如鏡中像，如化。[Classical Chinese,trad.]
解了诸法，如幻，如焰，如水中月，如虚空，如响，如揵闼婆城，如梦，如影，如镜中像，如化。[Classical Chinese,simp.]- From:c. 404,Kumārajīva (鳩摩羅什(Jiūmóluóshí)), trans.The Mahāprajñāpāramitā Sūtra (《摩訶般若波羅蜜經》),T0223
- Jiěliǎo zhū fǎ, rú huàn, rú yàn, rúshuǐ zhōng yuè, rú xūkōng, rú xiǎng, rú qiántàpó chéng, rú mèng, rú yǐng, rújìng zhōng xiàng, rú huà.[Pinyin]
- Understanding all the dharmas is like fantasy, like a flame, likethe moon in the water, like vanity, like an echo, like the (illusive) city of thegandharvas, like a dream, like a shadow, likean image in the mirror, like change.
像 (xiàng, “image”) in the original literature has been modified to花 (huā, “flower”), mostly for poetic purposes.
鏡花水月
- (literal)flowersreflected on amirror and themoon reflected in thewater
- (figurative)fantasy,illusion,mereshadow,phantom,vision, something that isvisible but having nosubstance
阿彌陀佛，為人在世，原是鏡花水月。[Written Vernacular Chinese,trad.]
阿弥陀佛，为人在世，原是镜花水月。[Written Vernacular Chinese,simp.]- From:Qing dynasty, Qian Cai (錢彩), Jin Feng (金豐),《說岳全傳》
- Ēmítuófó, wéirén zàishì, yuánshìjìnghuāshuǐyuè.[Pinyin]
- Amitābha, life in the world is originally afantasy.
鏡花水月閑消遣，何必名賢勝地逢。[Written Vernacular Chinese,trad.]
镜花水月闲消遣，何必名贤胜地逢。[Written Vernacular Chinese,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 usage example)
銀行承諾的那些高收益率，最後多半因不符合條件而成鏡花水月。[MSC,trad.]
银行承诺的那些高收益率，最后多半因不符合条件而成镜花水月。[MSC,simp.]- From:2007,宏皓,《理財改變命運》,page 248
- Yínháng chéngnuò de nàxiē gāo shōuyìlǜ, zuìhòu duōbàn yīn bù fúhé tiáojiàn ér chéngjìnghuāshuǐyuè.[Pinyin]
- Most of these high earnings yields, which banks promised that the investors would have, becameillusions at last because they failed to meet the requirements.
- (figurative) thesubtle andprofoundbeauty ofpoems that should not becomprehended by wordsliterally
- ^Orsborn, Matthew (2018), “Something for Nothing: Cognitive Metaphors for Emptiness in the*Upadeśa (Dàzhìdù lùn)”, inJournal of Chinese Buddhist Studies[1], volume31, pages171–222
- ^“鏡花水月 [jìnghuāshuǐyuè]”, in《成語典》,2020
Borrowed fromChinese鏡花水月 /镜花水月(jìnghuāshuǐyuè) above. SeeEtymology in Chinese section.
鏡花水月• (kyōka suigetsu) ←きやうくわすいげつ(kyaukwasuigetu)?
- flowersreflected on amirror and themoon reflected on thewater'ssurface
- (by extension, idiomatic) something that isvisible but having nosubstance;illusion,mereshadow,phantom,vision
- thesubtle andprofoundbeauty ofpoems that cannot bedescribed inwords
