124Japanese idiom 四字熟語
敵に塩を送る
てきにしおをおくるTeki ni shio o okuru
“Sending salt to one's enemy.”
The meaning
One can fight without wishing to destroy. Helping an adversary struck by a misfortune unrelated to the struggle keeps honor above victory.
At the origin
By tradition, lord Uesugi Kenshin sent salt to his rival Takeda Shingen, cut off from the sea: one does not win through another's famine.
The characters
- 敵 tekienemy
- に nito, toward
- 塩
- を
- 送る
にParticleThe point of arrival: a place, a moment, a destination.
In practice
Do not exploit a distress unrelated to the dispute between you.
Editorial note
Reported historical tradition; the exact gesture is debated.