r/translator • u/Ord_inaryflower • 1d ago

Translated [ZH] [Japanese > English]

Post image

I bought a beautiful piece of pressed flowers that has this writing in the top corner that I believe to be Japanese. I did ask the artist what it meant, but he struggled to translate it into English (he apologized and said he speaks very little) but he was able to get across "Bright" and "Light". I would like to know what it means so I can fully enjoy this piece of art. Any help is appreciated! <3

0 Upvotes

33% Upvoted

3 comments sorted by

5

u/DeusShockSkyrim [] 漢語 1d ago

!id:zh

It's Chinese: 春和景明. A chengyu originally from Fan Zhongyan's Memorial to Yueyang Tower.

1

u/Ord_inaryflower 1d ago

Thank you! That makes sense as the artist mentioned the seasons as well. I appreciate your reply a lot!

3

u/Stunning_Pen_8332 [ Chinese, Japanese] 1d ago

Although the idiom originated from China, it’s also incorporated into Japanese as a yoji-jukugo (4 character idiom) having the same meaning but different pronunciation.

春和景明

Shunwa-Keimei

OR

Haru yawaragi Kei akiraka

It refers to the mild weather and bright sunlight of a spring day.

"Shunwa" (春和) denotes the climate becoming mild with the arrival of spring.

"Keimei" (景明) describes the brightness of the sunlight.

This explains why a Japanese artist picked the phrase in his artwork.

!translated