Chengyu vs Japanese yojijukugo

Big Picture: Similarities and Key Differences

• Shared features: both are fixed four-character compounds, often Sino-classical in origin, used to compress meaning and add rhetorical polish.
• Key differences:
  1. Scope: chengyu mostly derive from Classical Chinese stories or phrases; yojijukugo include Sino-classical items and many native-Japanese coinages formed with kanji (not all trace to Chinese literature).
  2. Readings: yojijukugo have on-yomi (Sino-Japanese readings), occasionally kun-yomi mixes; chengyu have Mandarin pronunciation with tones.
  3. Grammar use: chengyu freely act as predicate/adverbial/modifier/headline; yojijukugo most often behave like nouns/na-adjectival nouns or adverbs and may require particles/copulas in Japanese sentences.
  4. Register: chengyu skew literary-formal but many are common; yojijukugo range from bookish/proverbial to modern coined business terms.

Shared/Similar Expressions (close meaning across both)

• 一石二鳥 (JP: いっせきにちょう) ↔ 一举两得 (yì jǔ liǎng dé) — achieve two gains with one move.
• 臥薪嘗胆 (がしんしょうたん) ↔ 卧薪尝胆 (wò xīn cháng dǎn) — endure hardship to seek revenge/success.
• 青天白日 (せいてんはくじつ) ↔ 青天白日 (qīng tiān bái rì) — clear and bright; often “innocent/open and aboveboard.”
• 優柔不断 (ゆうじゅうふだん) ↔ 优柔寡断 (yōu róu guǎ duàn) — indecisive.
• 自業自得 (じごうじとく) ↔ 自作自受 (zì zuò zì shòu) (near-match) — reap what you sow; suffer consequences of one’s actions.

Same Characters, Different Nuance (watch the drift)

• 一日千秋
  • JP (いちじつせんしゅう): “longing so strong that one day feels like years.”
  • CN 一日千秋 (yí rì qiān qiū): literary “a day feels like years,” also used for eager expectation; register is highly literary in modern Chinese.
• 美辞麗句 / 美辞丽句
  • JP (びじれいく): “flowery, ornate words,” often mildly negative (empty rhetoric).
  • CN 美辞丽句 (měi cí lì jù): “flowery diction,” likewise can imply pretty but empty—tone matches, but CN usage is rarer in speech.

Japanese-Only Yojijukugo (no standard chengyu twin)

• 十人十色 (じゅうにんといろ) — “to each their own” (ten people, ten colors).
• 以心伝心 (いしんでんしん) — tacit mutual understanding.
• 本末転倒 (ほんまつてんとう) — confuse the essential and the trivial.
  (You can render these in Chinese with natural phrases, but they are not conventional chengyu.)

Chinese-Only Chengyu (no natural yojijukugo twin)

• 画蛇添足 (huà shé tiān zú) — overdo and spoil the effect.
• 刻舟求剑 (kè zhōu qiú jiàn) — cling to a method despite change.
• 同舟共济 (tóng zhōu gòng jì) — pull together to overcome.
  (Japanese has paraphrases/idioms, but no “set” four-character matches used as commonly.)

Grammar & Placement (how they sit in sentences)

• Chengyu (Chinese):
  • Predicate: 结果一清二楚 (yì qīng èr chǔ)。
  • Adverbial: 稳扎稳打 (wěn zhā wěn dǎ) 推进。
  • Modifier: 有条不紊的 流程。
• Yojijukugo (Japanese): often need copula/particles:
  • Noun-like: 進捗は順風満帆だ。
  • Adverbial with に: 順風満帆に 進む。
  • Modifier with の/な: 有言実行の リーダー / 冷静沈着な 対応。

Translation & Study Strategies (bidirectional)

1. Map the function first: Are you expressing method, warning, praise, or emotion? Then choose the item in the target language with the same pragmatic force.
2. Prefer natural paraphrase when no neat twin exists: JP 以心伝心 → CN “心有灵犀一点通/心照不宣” (not four-character 1:1, but natural).
3. Keep a twin list of your top 30: for each yojijukugo, record (a) closest chengyu if any, (b) plain Chinese paraphrase, (c) register note.

False Friends & Pitfalls (avoid these traps)

• Assuming all yojijukugo come from chengyu: many are Japan-made with kanji; don’t force a Chinese “equivalent.”
• Copying pronunciation habits: tones matter in Chinese; on-yomi length/prosody ≠ Mandarin tones.
• Register mismatch: a yojijukugo common in JP business may sound overly literary if translated with a rare Chinese chengyu—use a plain Chinese phrase instead.
• Literal calques: e.g., JP 本末転倒 → CN should be “本末倒置,” not a word-for-word transfer.

Mini Comparison Table (study-ready)

• 順風満帆 (じゅんぷうまんぱん) — smooth sailing
  ↔ CN best pick: 一帆风顺 (yì fān fēng shùn) / plain “进展顺利”。
• 自業自得 (じごうじとく) — reap what you sow
  ↔ CN: 自作自受 (zì zuò zì shòu) / 种瓜得瓜 (proverb).
• 千載一遇 (せんざいいちぐう) — once in a thousand years (rare chance)
  ↔ CN: 千载难逢 (qiān zǎi nán féng)。
• 四面楚歌 (しめんそか) — surrounded by enemies
  ↔ CN: 四面楚歌 (sì miàn chǔ gē) (same story source).

Practice (choose the best mapping)

1. JP 十人十色 → express in Chinese: “各有所好 / 因人而异” (no set chengyu).
2. CN 画蛇添足 → render in JP: “やりすぎて逆効果 / 余計なことをして台無し” (natural paraphrase).
3. JP 本末転倒 → CN: 本末倒置。
4. CN 卧薪尝胆 → JP: 臥薪嘗胆 (shared classical item).
5. JP 以心伝心 → CN: “心照不宣 / 心有灵犀一点通.”

Study Plan (bilingual learners)

• Build a two-column deck: left = yojijukugo (kanji + kana), right = (a) closest chengyu or (b) best plain Chinese paraphrase.
• Tag by function (warning, praise, method), register, and origin (shared-classical, Japan-made).
• Do contrast drills weekly: pick 5 and speak one sentence in JP → one in CN with the mapped expression.

Takeaway: Treat chengyu and yojijukugo as overlapping but distinct systems. Start with shared classical items for confidence, then learn when to paraphrase instead of forcing a four-character twin. Always match function, register, and grammar slot for natural, cross-lingual use.