How to Read “Ten readings are not as good as one copying”
jūdoku wa issha ni shikazu
Meaning of “Ten readings are not as good as one copying”
“Ten readings are not as good as one copying” means that copying something by hand once is more effective for understanding and memory than reading it many times.
Learning by just reading with your eyes tends to stay superficial. But when you move your hand to copy text, your attention focuses on each stroke and each word. The content becomes deeply engraved in your mind.
People use this proverb when studying or working to memorize or deeply understand something. Students often hear it as advice during exam preparation: “Writing it once is better than reading it ten times.”
Even today, as digital devices spread everywhere, people quote this proverb to explain why taking handwritten notes still matters. It conveys the value of learning through physical action. This is practical wisdom for effective learning.
Origin and Etymology
The exact source of this proverb is unclear. However, it likely formed in Japan under the influence of classical Chinese learning philosophy.
The expression uses numerical contrast between “ten readings” and “one copying.” This style probably emerged from educational settings when Chinese classical text learning was popular.
During the Edo period, terakoya schools centered education on shūji—children copying characters repeatedly while looking at models. Knowledge that wouldn’t stick from just reading would soak into the body through actually holding a brush and copying.
This teaching naturally spread through such practical learning environments.
The expression “shikazu” has long been used in Japanese to show comparison. It shares the same structure as the famous proverb “A single viewing is better than a hundred hearings.”
The technique uses numerical contrast to impressively convey differences in effectiveness. This condensed expression captures experience-based wisdom: active copying works better for learning than passive reading.
Interesting Facts
Brain science research shows that handwriting activates broader brain regions than typing. The combination of writing movements and visual information dramatically improves memory retention.
This proverb demonstrates that our ancestors understood through experience what science now confirms as an effective learning method.
Copying by hand has another important effect. It directs attention to details you’d miss by just reading.
When you try to copy each character accurately, you naturally deepen your understanding of sentence structure, word choice, and logical flow.
Usage Examples
- For certification exam studying, ten readings are not as good as one copying, so you should write out the important parts in a notebook
- I keep looking at English vocabulary, but ten readings are not as good as one copying, so I should try writing them once
Universal Wisdom
The proverb “Ten readings are not as good as one copying” captures the essence of human learning. We cannot truly make information our own by just receiving it passively.
To turn knowledge into our flesh and blood, we need to engage with it actively.
Reading allows us to remain somewhat detached. While our eyes follow the characters, our mind can be somewhere else. But copying doesn’t allow that.
You must concentrate on each stroke, savor the meaning of each word, and reproduce it through your own hand. Through this process, knowledge transforms from mere information into your own understanding.
This proverb has been passed down for so long because humans instinctively want to choose the easier path. We want to get by with just reading, to memorize by just looking.
Our ancestors sounded an alarm against this lazy tendency in our hearts. If you truly want to master something, don’t spare the effort.
Use your body, take the time, and reproduce it with your own hands. That steady effort becomes the solid strength that supports you.
This truth applies not just to academic study, but to acquiring any skill or life wisdom.
When AI Hears This
When you only read, the brain is a “spectator.” When you write, the brain becomes a “performer.” This difference creates the gap in learning effectiveness.
During writing, the moment the brain issues commands, it sends a prediction signal called an “efference copy” to the cerebellum. The brain predicts “it should move like this.”
Then the actual result of moving the pen returns as sensation. The cerebellum detects the gap between prediction and result, then corrects the error.
For example, when writing the character “永,” you might curve too much or make it too short at first. But with each attempt, prediction accuracy improves and you approach the ideal form.
This prediction error correction process leaves deep traces in neural circuits. Just reading generates no prediction or error. Information enters through the eyes and gets processed, but the brain remains passive.
Writing, however, becomes whole-brain activity where motor cortex, cerebellum, and sensory cortex work together. Research reports that handwritten characters show about 1.5 times higher memory retention in the hippocampus compared to just reading.
Writing once works better than reading ten times because writing runs an active learning loop: “predict, execute, confirm, correct.”
The brain is an organ that learns from failure. The accumulation of small failures and corrections generated by writing strengthens memory.
Lessons for Today
We live in an era where smartphones and computers give us instant access to any information. If you want to know something, just search for it. Save it and you can review it anytime.
In this convenience, we easily fall into the trap of “thinking we understand just by looking.”
This proverb teaches the importance of taking time to move your hands if you truly want to make knowledge or skills your own.
If you want to acquire a new skill at work, don’t just read the manual—actually move your hands and try it. When you encounter an important book, copy passages that resonate with you into a notebook.
That extra effort accumulates as solid strength within you.
Seeking efficiency matters, but truly important things often sink in more deeply through inefficient methods. Make haste slowly.
What you learn through your own hands will become treasure you never forget.
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