How to Read “A river’s overflow lasts no more than three days”
Kōga no itsu wa mikka ni sugizu
Meaning of “A river’s overflow lasts no more than three days”
This proverb means that even great disasters and chaos don’t last long. Just as a flooding river calms down after three days, difficulties in life and social turmoil will eventually come to an end.
People use this saying to encourage someone facing serious problems or crisis situations. It also helps people view chaotic situations with a calm mind.
The expression offers hope that current suffering won’t last forever, no matter how hard things are right now.
Today, people apply this proverb not only to personal difficulties but also to social chaos and economic crises.
It contains deep insight that applies nature’s principle to human society. Even the most violent storm-like events will surely calm down with time.
Origin and Etymology
This proverb is believed to come from ancient Chinese classics. “Kōga” means large rivers, and “itsu” refers to flooding.
In other words, even when a great river floods, it doesn’t last more than three days.
In China, floods from great rivers like the Yellow River and Yangtze River have greatly affected people’s lives since ancient times.
When these rivers flooded, vast lands were covered with water and people suffered tremendous damage.
However, no matter how severe the flooding was, the water would eventually recede. Experience taught that it would calm down within three days at most.
From observing this natural phenomenon, people learned that the same applies to disasters and chaos in human society.
The proverb carries a message of hope. No matter how great the difficulty or confusion, it won’t last forever and will eventually settle.
This saying came to Japan along with Chinese classics. People began using it to encourage those facing difficult situations.
You can feel the wisdom of our ancestors who connected nature’s principles to life lessons.
Usage Examples
- The company scandal is causing a huge uproar, but “a river’s overflow lasts no more than three days,” so things will surely calm down
- It may be painful now, but “a river’s overflow lasts no more than three days,” so this chaos will eventually settle—please don’t rush
Universal Wisdom
This proverb has been passed down for so long because it addresses both fundamental human anxiety and hope.
When we face difficulties, we’re struck by the fear that “this suffering might last forever.”
Our vision narrows, and we feel as if our current pain is everything.
However, if we observe nature, even the most violent storm doesn’t last forever. It always calms down eventually.
The fact that even a great river’s flood settles after three days suggests that human difficulties follow the same pattern.
Our ancestors deeply understood this principle of nature. They tried to pass it down to future generations as a life lesson.
For someone in the midst of difficulty, gaining the perspective that “this isn’t forever” becomes a turning point from despair to hope.
This proverb contains trust in time as a great healer. Even in situations beyond human control, the flow of time will surely bring resolution.
This wisdom isn’t about giving up. Rather, it’s a powerful message that gives us the calmness and patience to overcome difficulties.
When AI Hears This
A flood settling in three days is a classic example of what physics calls “energy dissipation structures.”
When a river floods, water rushes from high places to low places, converting enormous potential energy into kinetic energy.
However, this energy transforms into heat through friction and turbulence, then disperses into the surroundings.
In other words, concentrated high-energy states cannot be maintained according to physical laws.
What’s interesting is that human anger has exactly the same structure. Anger is a “chemical high-energy state” where adrenaline and cortisol are rapidly secreted in the brain.
However, the body tries to maintain homeostasis, so these hormones are metabolized within hours to days, and blood concentrations drop.
Emotional storms also “dissipate” just like floods.
Social frenzies work the same way. Even when something goes viral on social media, the information’s energy dilutes as it spreads.
Initially concentrated attention scatters in countless directions over time, and each person’s interest energy rapidly decreases.
As physicist Prigogine showed, systems far from equilibrium are more unstable and must return to equilibrium.
Floods, anger, and viral controversies are all part of the universe’s process of moving toward “entropy increase.”
Lessons for Today
For those of us living in modern times, this proverb teaches us how to face difficulties.
Social media controversies, workplace troubles, broken relationships, economic crises—modern society has various kinds of “overflows.”
At those moments, we tend to feel overwhelmed by the chaos right in front of us.
But remember this. The difficulties you experienced in the past probably felt like they would last forever at the time.
Yet here you are today. There must be many things that time resolved, that naturally settled down.
This proverb teaches us that we don’t need to rush toward forced solutions. Of course, we should take whatever actions we can.
But at the same time, it’s important to trust time as an ally.
Rather than panicking in the storm, we should maintain the calmness that “this too will pass in three days.”
That becomes the strength to overcome difficulties.
If you’re facing a major problem right now, take a deep breath. This chaos isn’t forever.
The time when it settles will surely come.
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