Polishing Each Other 切磋琢磨
sessa takuma4 characters46 strokes
切磋琢磨 (sessa takuma) means friends and rivals encouraging and competing with each other so that everyone improves, like cutting and polishing jade or stone.
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Meaning 意味
What 切磋琢磨 means
A Japanese four-character idiom, yojijukugo, read sessa takuma.
LiterallyCut, file, carve, polish.
Just as jade and stone are cut and polished until they shine, companions encourage and compete with one another. Both sides grow stronger in the process.
Where it comes from. It comes from the Classic of Poetry (Shijing), an ancient Chinese collection of poems, which praises a noble person as if shaped by cutting, filing, carving and polishing.
“My study partner and I push each other to improve every week; that is sessa takuma.”
When people write it in Japan. It suits a piece about growing together with rivals or teammates.
One of these kanji is beyond the everyday list, a challenge even for adults in Japan.
How to write it 書き方
Brush tips for 切磋琢磨
Semi-cursive script (gyōsho)
- In 磋, the two dots at the top right are joined in one stroke, written like the letter V.
- In 磨, extend the sweep to the left in the 广 frame on the top and left (madare) long toward the lower left. Stack 林 and 石 in the space below it on the right.
- In 切, keep the left part small and write 刀 on the right large. Extend the sweep to the left in 刀 long toward the lower left.
Stroke order
Follow the vermilion stroke, frame by frame. Shown in regular script. Semi-cursive follows the same order, with strokes joined.
Stroke order data: KanjiVG by Ulrich Apel, CC BY-SA 3.0.
How to practice 練習
Trace first, then copy
- PrintPrint both pages at actual size, on US Letter or A4. Page 1 is the model. Page 2 is the tracing sheet.
- TraceTrace the outlines with a brush pen. Or lay thin hanshi paper over the page and trace with brush and ink.
- CopySet the model beside your paper and copy it stroke by stroke. Look at the model more than at your own paper.
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