push; refuse (responsibility); shove | extort; knock; to strike extort; knock; to strike; to knock (at a door); to hit | ||
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simp. and trad. (推敲) |
推 | 敲 | |
Literally: “to push or to knock”. |
From the story of the Tang dynasty poet Jia Dao (779–843). Legend has it that one day while he was riding on his donkey, he was deliberating over the following line in his poem:
He was pondering whether the 推 (“to push”) should be replaced by 敲 (“to knock”).
In fact, he was so engrossed in his deliberation that he did not notice an official's convoy coming, and ran straight into it. He was then taken for questioning on why he failed to avoid the convoy, and he explained that he was deep in thought about a poem he composed. The official whom Jia ran into was Han Yu, a famous Tang dynasty essayist and poet. After deliberation, Han said 敲 (“to knock”) would be a better word choice in this verse, since it highlights the quietness of the night. Jia regarded Han as his “one-character teacher” (一字師), followed his advice, and finalised verses of the poem.
推敲
Kanji in this term | |
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推 | 敲 |
すい Grade: 6 |
こう Hyōgai |
on'yomi | kan'on |
推敲する • (suikō suru) ←すいかう (suikau)?transitive suru (stem 推敲し (suikō shi), past 推敲した (suikō shita))
Katsuyōkei ("stem forms") | ||||
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Mizenkei ("imperfective") | 推敲し | すいこうし | suikō shi | |
Ren’yōkei ("continuative") | 推敲し | すいこうし | suikō shi | |
Shūshikei ("terminal") | 推敲する | すいこうする | suikō suru | |
Rentaikei ("attributive") | 推敲する | すいこうする | suikō suru | |
Kateikei ("hypothetical") | 推敲すれ | すいこうすれ | suikō sure | |
Meireikei ("imperative") | 推敲せよ¹ 推敲しろ² |
すいこうせよ¹ すいこうしろ² |
suikō seyo¹ suikō shiro² | |
Key constructions | ||||
Passive | 推敲される | すいこうされる | suikō sareru | |
Causative | 推敲させる 推敲さす |
すいこうさせる すいこうさす |
suikō saseru suikō sasu | |
Potential | 推敲できる | すいこうできる | suikō dekiru | |
Volitional | 推敲しよう | すいこうしよう | suikō shiyō | |
Negative | 推敲しない | すいこうしない | suikō shinai | |
Negative continuative | 推敲せず | すいこうせず | suikō sezu | |
Formal | 推敲します | すいこうします | suikō shimasu | |
Perfective | 推敲した | すいこうした | suikō shita | |
Conjunctive | 推敲して | すいこうして | suikō shite | |
Hypothetical conditional | 推敲すれば | すいこうすれば | suikō sureba | |
¹ Written imperative ² Spoken imperative |
Hanja in this term | |
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推 | 敲 |