小康

Chinese

 
small; tiny; few; young
 peaceful; spongy (of radishes)
simp. and trad.
(小康)		 小 康
Literally: “small tranquility”.

Etymology

From a passage in The Book of Rites:

……如有不由此者，在勢者去，眾以為殃，是謂小康。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
……如有不由此者，在势者去，众以为殃，是谓小康。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]
From: The Book of Rites, circa 4th – 2nd century BCE
...... Rú yǒu bù yóu cǐ zhě, zài shì zhě qù, zhòng yǐ wéi yāng, shì wèi xiǎokāng. [Pinyin]
[…] Any rulers who did not follow this course were driven away by those who possessed power and position, and all regarded them as pests. This is the period of what we call Small Tranquillity.

Pronunciation

Noun

小康

  1. (Chinese philosophy) Confucian near-ideal state of society; period of peace and prosperity
  2. (modern uses) comparatively good living standards; moderate affluence

Derived terms

  • 小康計畫／小康计画

Japanese

Kanji in this term
小 康
しょう
Grade: 1		 こう
Grade: 4
on’yomi

Etymology

/seukau/ → /ɕeukau/ → /ɕeukɔː/ → /ɕoːkoː/

From Middle Chinese compound 小康 (sjewX khang, literally “small + tranquil”). Compare modern Cantonese siu2 hong1 or Mandarin xiǎokāng.

Pronunciation

Noun

小康 (hiragana しょうこう, rōmaji shōkō, historical hiragana せうかう)

  1. a lull, a respite, a breathing spell, a short time of peace

Derived terms

  • 小康状態 (しょうこうじょうたい) (shōkō jōtai): a state of reduced activity

References

  1. ↑ 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
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