153Japanese proverb ことわざ
愚公、山を移す
ぐこう、やまをうつすGukō, yama o utsusu
“The old fool moves the mountain.”
The meaning
The old man of the tale set out to move a mountain, basket by basket, certain his descendants would continue. People laughed; the mountain, meanwhile, shrank. Constancy across generations wears down the impossible.
At the origin
A Chinese tale from the Liezi, proverbial in Japan for very long-haul endeavors.
The characters
In practice
For an immense goal, measure the baskets moved, not the mountain left.
Editorial note
Chinese tale (Liezi).
Themes
In the collections · Michi
Similar proverbs
- 005 塵も積もれば山となる Even dust, piling up, becomes a mountain.
- 196 蝸牛そろそろ登れ富士の山 Little snail, climb, ever so slowly, Mount Fuji.
- 234 分け入っても分け入っても青い山 However deep I go, and deeper still — blue mountains.
- 001 石の上にも三年 Even a stone grows warm if you sit on it for three years.
- 006 雨垂れ石を穿つ Dripping water wears through stone.