「漢字の暗記は記憶力を鍛える」という考えについて説明があり、「脳トレ漢字」第189話では「Dou Xian」を紹介。この言葉の由来や意味について解説がある。また、「杜仙」という漢字についても説明があり、その由来や詩人杜牧に関するエピソードが紹介されている。さらに、「杜仙」の「杜」の由来や「仙」という漢字の別の使い方についても言及されている。最後に、トルストイについての情報も記載され、彼の作品や影響について紹介されている。読者に漢字や文学に興味を持つよう促す内容。
Do you ever find yourself trying to learn a kanji character and giving up halfway with a “oh well”, only for your memory to fail you? However, it is said that memorization can help improve your memory skills.
In episode 189 of “Brain Training Kanji,” we introduce “Dou Xian.” The word “selection,” often seen in news and newspapers, is said to have originated from a Chinese story. Increase your understanding of kanji by actually reading and writing.
What is “Dou Xian”?
Do you know how to pronounce “Dou Xian”? Not “Don Sen”…
The correct answer is… “zusan.”
According to Shogakukan Digital Measuring Line, it is explained as writing things in poems or articles that cannot be trusted, and that things are sloppy with many mistakes. Phrases like “sloppy response” or “sloppy management” indicate that things or people are handled in a sloppy way.
It may also be mistakenly used as “sloppy person.” However, “sloppy” refers to attitudes or behaviors that are sloppy, so it is a word used to describe a person. It is not used as a personality trait.
What is the origin of the kanji “Dosan”?
Let’s now look at the kanji that make up “Dosan.” “Dosan” refers to the poet of the Song Dynasty, Du Meng, and “Senshin” refers to the creation of poetry and articles. While it is now read as “suzan,” it used to be read as “zuzan.”
The poems of the Song Dynasty poet Du Mu were often criticized as being below standard, rash, and rough. This anecdote is said to be the origin of the four-character idiom “Chikusan.”
Who is “El Duo”?
It is now understood that the “Dosan” in “Dosan” refers to the Chinese poet Du Mu. The kanji “Sen” is also used in the name of a famous writer, “El Duo.” Do you know how to pronounce it? The correct answer is Tolstoy.
Tolstoy was a novelist of the Russian Empire, who alongside Dostoyevsky, created works such as “The Brothers Karamazov” and “Crime and Punishment,” making great contributions to the development of Russian literature in the 19th century. He is also known for works like “Childhood” and “War and Peace.”
Coming from a noble family, Tolstoy criticized the political, religious, and educational systems of Russia at the time, including the serfdom that ignored the human rights of peasants. Tolstoy’s style of portraying social and national contradictions had a significant influence on later writers.
Tolstoy’s works had an impact on Japan during the Meiji and Taisho eras when social movements were flourishing, and they are still widely read and studied today.
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How was it? Did this introduction to “Dou Xian” help broaden your knowledge of kanji? Except for Tolstoy’s “Duo,” “Shao” was written and read by Shakespeare. Many great personalities have their names written in kanji, so be sure to check them out.
By Mayu Toyota (Kyoto Media Line)
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