How to Read “A beggar talking about his family tree”
Kojiki no keizu banashi
Meaning of “A beggar talking about his family tree”
“A beggar talking about his family tree” refers to someone of low status boasting about their prestigious family background.
It describes people who proudly talk about their ancestors’ glory or their family’s noble lineage, even though their current situation is poor and their social position is low.
This proverb is used when there’s a huge gap between someone’s reality and what they’re saying.
It somewhat critically points out the act of trying to make yourself look bigger by clinging to past family status or bloodline, rather than your current abilities or position.
Today, people rarely talk about actual family lineage. But the essential meaning still applies.
It fits any situation where someone brags about things not directly related to who they are now.
This includes boasting about a parent’s position, their alma mater, or past glory, rather than their own achievements or efforts.
The lesson is that what matters is who you are now, not your background or past.
Origin and Etymology
No clear written records explain the origin of this proverb. However, the components of the phrase reveal an interesting background.
“Keizu” means a family tree that records family connections.
In Japan since ancient times, especially in samurai society, family lineage and bloodline were highly valued.
Being connected to a prestigious family was crucial for guaranteeing a person’s social status and credibility.
The Edo period’s class system likely influenced the birth of this proverb.
Back then, there was a strict class system of samurai, farmers, artisans, and merchants. People couldn’t escape the class they were born into.
In such a society, even those whose current circumstances were poor might try to preserve their dignity by talking about past glory or distinguished ancestors.
The word “kojiki” (beggar) is avoided today as discriminatory language. But it was simply used then to indicate extreme poverty.
The proverb expresses, with some irony, the image of someone talking about distinguished ancestors despite being fallen now.
It’s an expression born from observing human nature. The greater the gap between reality and past glory, the more striking the contrast becomes.
Usage Examples
- He’s just a regular employee now, but all he does is talk about how his grandfather was a company executive—a beggar talking about his family tree
- Bragging about graduating from a famous university when you have no actual achievements is exactly a beggar talking about his family tree
Universal Wisdom
The human essence that “A beggar talking about his family tree” reveals is the hunger for self-affirmation.
Everyone has a fundamental desire to believe they have value and to be recognized by others.
But when we can’t feel confident in our current selves, where do we seek salvation?
This proverb has been passed down for so long because it sharply captures this human weakness.
When we can’t take pride in our present selves, we try to cling to the past or to someone else’s glory.
This isn’t rare at all. It might even be a very human response.
What’s interesting is that this proverb isn’t just criticism. It contains deep human understanding.
Why do people talk about their family trees? Because they want to look away from their difficult current reality and believe they have value.
It’s an expression of the desperate wish to maintain pride and protect dignity.
But at the same time, this proverb issues a warning.
Others’ glory or past brilliance can never make your present self shine.
In fact, the bigger the gap with reality, the more miserable you appear.
This proverb teaches us a strict yet warm truth. True self-affirmation can only be found in your own journey, not in borrowed things.
When AI Hears This
In information theory, more complex and unpredictable information has “higher entropy.”
For example, “300 years of daily weather data” has vastly higher entropy than “tomorrow will be sunny or rainy.”
But “A beggar talking about his family tree” shows a phenomenon where this abundance of information and its value are completely reversed.
A family tree originally contains enormous amounts of information. Who married whom, how many children they had, what kind of lives each person lived.
The combinations increase astronomically. But a beggar’s family tree has a critical problem. Its verifiability is zero.
In information theory, information gains value when the receiver can use it to change some action.
But a family tree that nobody knows, has no records, and can’t be verified doesn’t change the receiver’s actions at all, no matter how complex.
Look at modern social media. Someone’s detailed daily reports, complex opinions crammed into 140 characters, masses of hashtags.
These have high information volume, but do they concretely affect the lives of those who read them?
Claude Shannon, the founder of information theory, defined information value as “reduction of uncertainty.”
In other words, information that reduces the receiver’s confusion and enables better judgment has value.
“A beggar talking about his family tree” is a pathological state of information itself. Only the information’s entropy has swelled, while practical uncertainty reduction is zero.
Lessons for Today
What this proverb teaches modern people is that you must build your own value yourself.
Your parents’ occupation, your hometown, your educational background, past glory—these may be part of you, but they are not you yourself.
In modern society, with the spread of social media, this tendency may have become more pronounced.
Showing off connections with celebrities, decorating yourself with brand goods, repeatedly talking about past successes.
But such borrowed brilliance cannot make the real you shine.
What matters is what you’re doing right now, at this moment, and how you’re living.
Even if it’s a small step, the path you’ve walked with your own feet creates your true value.
It’s okay to fail. You don’t have to be perfect.
The accumulation of your own efforts and experiences is what nurtures genuine confidence that no one can take away.
Don’t rely on the past or others’ glory. Cherish who you are today.
The story that begins there will become your own irreplaceable family tree.
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