Japan – Discovering Zen Words – Today’s Best Word is”疾風知勁草”
Shippū ni keisō wo shiru
Zen is difficult. Zen word is also difficult. That’s why I interpret it as I please. I think that’s fine. Enou Zenji, Dogen Zenji, Ikkyu-san, and Ryokan-san are likely to say, “That’s fine, that’s fine. Let it be."
Today is “Hard wind tell us hardy weeds" It means"A man’s worth is revealed through adversity"
Wang Ba who helped Emperor Guangwu alone
“Hard wind tell us hardy weeds" is in the Wang Ba of the Gohan book. It’s not a Zen word, but it’s a tasty word.
Liu Bang rose from the common people and founded the Han Dynasty in 202 BC. The Han Dynasty continued to prosper for a long time, but was usurped by the treacherous minister Wang Mang and fell in AD 8. Wang Mang’s politics ignored reality, causing social chaos and great suffering for the people. Emperor Hongwu could not bear to see this and raised an army to defeat Wang Mang. However, the battle did not go well and his subordinates left one by one.
Finally, only Wang Ba remained. “而子独留努力、疾風知勁草 You stays alone and works hard, and the gale learned to teach.me the strength grass," Emperor Hongwu said with deep emotion. The value of a person can only be seen in difficult times. Emperor Hongwu defeated Wang Mang and founded the Later Han Dynasty together with Wang Ba.
Strong grass is strong grass. A gale is a fast and violent wind. The phrase “knowing a strong grass in a gust of wind" means that all the grass in the field usually looks the same. However, when a strong wind blows, you can see that there are grasses that do not break (strong grass) and grasses that do break. It’s the same with people. When you face adversity, you can tell who is strong and who is weak. It’s only in adversity that you can see a person’s true worth.
There is a similar phrase in the Song Shu. It is"厳霜貞木” The meaning of 厳霜貞木（the severe frost ）is that when a severe frost falls, you can know which trees do not wither. It has the same meaning as knowing a strong grass in a gust of wind. There are many people around us. Among them, there are those who are strong in adversity and those who are not. If you interact with them vaguely every day, you won’t know who is a strong grass. You need to make an effort to identify strong grass before you face adversity. You have to make an effort to become a strong grass yourself.
A gale that blows in Ukraine. There are hardy weeds.
A gale is blowing in the world now. Russia has invaded Ukraine and China continues to expand its hegemony. The devastation of Ukraine only covers the eyes.
The grasslands of Ukraine are raging with gale. The Ukrainians were all 勁草. President Putin misunderstood the strength of the Ukrainians.
People who support President Zelensky are like Wang Ba. It seems that Putin does not have a person like Wang Ba. The difference is large. Ukraine is in adversity, but one day it will regain peace. Without Wang Ba, Russia will be on a difficult road.
The importance of human resources has not changed since ancient tim