242Japanese idiom 四字熟語
自画自賛
じがじさんJiga jisan
“Writing the praise of one's own painting.”
The meaning
On old paintings, the praise (san) was calligraphed by someone else; writing it yourself invited smiles. The esteem that counts is the one you did not draft.
At the origin
An expression born from the tradition of annotated paintings.
The characters
In practice
Let your work be praised by others — or by its results.