101Japanese proverb ことわざ
月に叢雲、花に風
つきにむらくも、はなにかぜTsuki ni murakumo, hana ni kaze
“Over the moon, gathering clouds; over blossoms, wind.”
The meaning
Beautiful things are fragile and brief: a cloud veils the moon, a breeze strips the blossoms. That is no reason to love them less — it is the reason to look at them now.
At the origin
A proverb of Japanese aesthetics on beauty made precious by fragility.
The characters
- 月 tsukimoon
- に niover
- 叢雲 murakumogathering clouds
- 、
- 花
- に
- 風
にParticleThe point of arrival: a place, a moment, a destination.
In practice
A beautiful moment arrives: put everything down and truly look.
Themes
Similar proverbs
- 136 花鳥風月 Flowers, birds, wind, moon.
- 168 菜の花や月は東に日は西に Field of rapeseed — the moon in the east, the sun in the west.
- 218 雲の峰幾つ崩れて月の山 How many cloud peaks have crumbled away — and here, the mountain under the moon.
- 111 花は盛りに、月は隈なきをのみ見るものかは Should we look at blossoms only in full bloom, at the moon only when it is clear?
- 281 雪月花 Snow, moon, flowers.