How to Read “A jeweled cup is like having no bottom”
Tama no sakazuki soko naki ga gotoshi
Meaning of “A jeweled cup is like having no bottom”
“A jeweled cup is like having no bottom” is a proverb that describes how people drink endlessly once they start.
Like a beautiful jeweled cup with no bottom, people keep drinking one cup after another without ever feeling satisfied. The proverb uses this vivid metaphor to capture this behavior.
This saying is mainly used to warn against lack of moderation at drinking parties. Many people have experienced this: you plan to have just one drink, but it becomes two, then three, and before you know it, you’ve had too much.
The proverb captures situations where self-control easily slips away. It uses the striking image of a bottomless cup to express this.
Even today, people use this saying at drinking parties to point out when someone is drinking too much. However, it doesn’t simply mean being a heavy drinker.
The important point is that it focuses on the difficulty of stopping once you start drinking. It’s about losing control, not just drinking a lot.
Origin and Etymology
There are several theories about the origin of this proverb. The most widely accepted theory traces it back to ancient Chinese classics.
“Tama” refers to beautiful jewels or precious vessels. “Sakazuki” means a cup for drinking sake. A cup without a bottom represents a vessel that can never be filled, no matter how much you pour into it.
Ancient Chinese texts reportedly describe a beautiful cup made of jewels that has a hole in the bottom. No matter how much sake you pour, it never fills up. This metaphor traveled to Japan and became established as an expression warning about drinking habits.
What’s interesting is the phrasing “soko naki ga gotoshi” (like having no bottom) rather than simply “bottomless.” The cup actually has a bottom, but people drink as if it doesn’t.
This metaphorical expression was chosen to show how people keep drinking endlessly. By contrasting the noble image of a beautiful jeweled cup with human weakness, the saying becomes a more powerful warning.
Japan has long had a developed drinking culture. Many proverbs about sake were born from this tradition.
This proverb is one of them. It has been passed down through generations as a warning about human nature and how easily we lose moderation.
Usage Examples
- He’s like “a jeweled cup is like having no bottom” – once he has one drink, he ends up drinking until morning
- I feel pathetic that even when I plan to drink moderately, I become “a jeweled cup is like having no bottom”
Universal Wisdom
The proverb “A jeweled cup is like having no bottom” sharply captures the essence of human desire. Why can’t we stop at a reasonable point once we start something?
This saying isn’t just about drinking too much. That’s only the surface issue. It’s really about the endless “more, more” nature of human desire itself.
Once we start feeling pleasure, we seek even more of it. Even when we set our own limits for satisfaction, we break our promises to ourselves when the moment comes. Just one more, we tell ourselves. Just a little bit more.
This weakness is a fundamental part of human nature that hasn’t changed from ancient times to today.
Our ancestors expressed this difficulty of control through the brilliant metaphor of a “bottomless cup.” A vessel that never fills no matter how much you pour. This is a universal truth that applies not just to sake, but to wealth, fame, and all kinds of desires.
This proverb quietly tells us that humans are creatures who never know satisfaction.
Yet the fact that this saying has been passed down for so long also proves something important. People have always been aware of this weakness and have tried to guard against it.
The importance of knowing your limits and maintaining moderation – this is conveyed through the dignified expression of a beautiful jeweled cup. In this, we can feel the depth of our ancestors’ wisdom.
When AI Hears This
Like water continuously leaking from a bottomless cup, human desire is never satisfied. This structure is surprisingly similar to the second law of thermodynamics that governs the universe.
The second law of thermodynamics teaches that “entropy always increases.” Entropy, simply put, means “disorder” or “how spread out things are.” A room gets messy if left alone. Hot coffee always cools down.
This one-way flow never stops. What’s important is that we can never actually reach a state of perfect equilibrium – a perfect state where nothing changes anymore.
Desire has the same structure. Someone who wasn’t satisfied earning 500,000 yen won’t be satisfied at 1,000,000 yen either. Why? Because desire constantly finds new targets and continues to expand.
Just as entropy keeps increasing, the total amount of desire keeps growing. Just as the universe cannot reach the state of complete equilibrium that physicists call “heat death,” humans cannot reach the equilibrium state of “complete satisfaction.”
Ancient sages had no laboratory equipment or mathematical formulas. Yet through the metaphor of a bottomless cup, they intuitively grasped the fundamental irreversibility and unreachability of the universe.
By observing the human inner world, they arrived at the same truth as physical laws.
Lessons for Today
What this proverb teaches modern people is the importance of “deciding when to stop before you start.” Not just with alcohol, but modern society is full of things that can become “bottomless cups.”
Smartphone use, games, shopping, social media – all of these can easily trap us.
The important thing is to start by acknowledging your weakness. Don’t be overconfident thinking “I’ll be fine.” Instead, understand that “humans are naturally creatures who seek without limits.”
Then create specific mechanisms to stop yourself. Set time limits, set quantity limits, have someone watch over you. These external constraints are nothing to be ashamed of.
This proverb also teaches the Eastern wisdom of “knowing satisfaction.” Rather than constantly seeking more and more, we can develop a heart that feels what we have now is enough.
Isn’t this a very important perspective for those of us living in modern consumer society?
Do you have any “bottomless cups” in your life? Recognizing them and having the strength to be satisfied at an appropriate point – that’s the message this proverb gives to those of us living today.
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