How to Read “A vermilion bowl to a beggar”
Kojiki ni shūwan
Meaning of “A vermilion bowl to a beggar”
“A vermilion bowl to a beggar” means giving something too fine or valuable to someone who cannot appreciate or use it properly is wasteful.
No matter how expensive or excellent something is, it cannot show its true value if the person receiving it lacks the ability or understanding to make use of it.
This proverb is used when someone tries to give something excessive without considering the recipient’s actual abilities or situation.
It also warns against seeking things beyond one’s current level. For example, giving top-quality tools to a beginner who hasn’t mastered the basics is a waste.
Assigning important work to someone with little experience won’t produce good results either.
Today, this expression reminds us that things have a proper order. Growing step by step is essential.
The proverb contains a practical lesson: before you can handle fine things, you must first develop the ability to match them.
Origin and Etymology
The exact first appearance of this proverb in literature is unclear. However, the components of the phrase reveal an interesting background.
“Shūwan” refers to a lacquerware bowl painted vermilion red. Lacquerware has been treasured as a luxury craft in Japan since ancient times.
Vermilion lacquerware was especially valuable because the pigment itself was precious. Only people of high status used such items.
These bowls appeared at formal occasions like temple ceremonies and noble banquets.
“Kojiki” means a beggar who lives by asking others for food or money.
During the Edo period, Japan had a strict class system. Everything from possessions to clothing to tableware was determined by social rank.
This proverb likely emerged from that hierarchical society. People observed that giving an expensive vermilion bowl to a beggar would be pointless.
The beggar couldn’t understand its value or treat it with proper care. The expression embodies practical wisdom: the value of something can only be realized when the recipient has the ability and circumstances to use it.
While the class system background differs from modern times, the teaching remains true. Having fine things without the ability or preparation to use them properly is meaningless.
Interesting Facts
Vermilion lacquerware was made using techniques transmitted from ancient China. The raw material for vermilion, a mineral called cinnabar, had limited mining sources.
Because of this, vermilion lacquer was sometimes considered as precious as gold. Creating a single vermilion bowl required applying many layers of lacquer.
Completion could take anywhere from several months to over a year.
Many senryū poems from the Edo period feature “kojiki” as a subject. People of that era created various proverbs and poems using class differences as material for humor and lessons.
These expressions show the sharp social observation skills of people living within a strict class system.
Usage Examples
- Buying the most expensive golf clubs when you’re a beginner is like a vermilion bowl to a beggar
- Assigning a major project to a new employee who hasn’t learned the basics is a vermilion bowl to a beggar
Universal Wisdom
“A vermilion bowl to a beggar” has been passed down because it contains deep insight into human society.
It reveals this truth: value is not absolute. It is relative, determined by the recipient’s state of readiness.
No matter how wonderful something is, it becomes nearly worthless to someone who lacks the power to understand and use it.
This applies not just to objects, but to knowledge, opportunities, and positions. The best education means nothing without the will to learn.
A perfect opportunity cannot be seized without proper preparation.
This proverb points to a universal law: human growth follows a proper sequence. It teaches that building strength steadily, step by step, matters more than rushing to reach the top.
The proverb also offers an important lesson from the giver’s perspective. Even when you give something good with the best intentions, you may trouble the recipient or waste the item if you ignore their situation.
True kindness requires wisdom. You must understand the other person’s current state and discern what they truly need.
This wisdom touches the essence of human relationships. Love and good intentions alone are not enough.
Only when accompanied by deep understanding of the other person can you deliver something of real value.
When AI Hears This
Human utility has a hierarchical structure. When lower levels aren’t satisfied, the value of upper levels becomes zero. This is the essence of the vermilion bowl.
For example, imagine someone whose hunger level is 9 out of 10. Offer them a choice between a 10,000 yen fine dining voucher and a 500 yen rice ball.
They’ll probably choose the rice ball. Economically, the 10,000 yen voucher has higher value. But considering this person’s reference point and degree of improvement from their current state, the rice ball has overwhelmingly greater marginal utility.
What’s interesting is the threshold where this reversal occurs. Research quantifying Maslow’s hierarchy of needs shows something striking.
When basic survival needs drop below about 30 percent satisfaction, interest in higher-order goods declines sharply.
A vermilion bowl is a decorative item. It relates to “social recognition” and “aesthetic satisfaction,” which rank above the physiological need for food.
In a beggar’s state, the utility curve for such an item might even enter negative territory. Why? Because a non-sellable decorative item only creates the cost of carrying it around.
This principle applies to modern support policies. In disaster relief, water and food come first. Cultural items come later.
When the reference point is low, the ranking of goods completely reorganizes.
Lessons for Today
This proverb teaches you the importance of choosing things that match your current growth stage without rushing.
You might see someone’s success on social media and immediately try to get the same things. But without the foundation of experience and effort they built, you won’t get the same results.
In our era, information and tools are easy to obtain. But precisely because of this, you need the ability to discern what you truly need and what suits you now.
Sometimes reading one book thoroughly helps you more than buying expensive materials.
This wisdom also applies when you give something to someone or teach them. Understand their current state and choose what they can actually receive.
Isn’t that true kindness?
What matters is accepting yourself as you are now and moving forward steadily, one step at a time.
To become someone who can handle a vermilion bowl, start with what you can do today. That accumulation will guide you to become a person of genuine ability.
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