How to Read “Turn your hand and make clouds, flip your hand and it becomes rain”
te wo hirugaeseba kumo to tsukuri te wo kutsugaeseba ame to naru
Meaning of “Turn your hand and make clouds, flip your hand and it becomes rain”
This proverb means that when powerful people change their attitudes, the entire situation changes dramatically. The expression of making clouds and bringing rain just by turning your palm up or down shows how a slight mood change or decision by someone in power can have enormous effects on the people around them and society as a whole.
This saying is mainly used in politics and organizations to describe situations where everything changes depending on what the leader wants. It’s used to critically point out how powerful people behave when they suddenly reverse policies they supported yesterday or abruptly treat valued subordinates coldly.
Even today, it’s not unusual for a single word from a company executive or politician to completely reverse direction. This proverb vividly expresses the frightening nature of power and the helplessness of people who are tossed around by the whims of those in power.
Origin and Etymology
This proverb is believed to come from a poem by Du Fu, a Chinese poet from the Tang Dynasty. In his poem “Song of Poor Friends,” there’s a line that says “Turn hand make clouds, flip hand rain.” This expression traveled to Japan and became established there.
“Turn your hand” means to face your palm upward, while “flip your hand” means to face your palm downward. The expression that you can make clouds or bring rain with just that simple motion depicts someone with godlike power.
Du Fu lived during the decline of the Tang Dynasty. The poet must have keenly observed how people’s fates were greatly influenced by the whimsical decisions of those in power.
The bold metaphor that a trivial action like flipping your palm can control weather, a massive natural phenomenon, brilliantly expresses the absolute nature and frightening power of authority.
In Japan, this expression became widely known from the Edo period onward. In samurai society, where a lord’s single word determined a retainer’s fate, people probably overlapped this reality with this proverb.
This saying contains a harsh recognition of reality: that individual effort and will are powerless before authority.
Usage Examples
- The fact that a department gets abolished just because the president changes policy is exactly “Turn your hand and make clouds, flip your hand and it becomes rain”
- How budgets get cut or increased with a minister’s single word is the very embodiment of “Turn your hand and make clouds, flip your hand and it becomes rain”
Universal Wisdom
This proverb has been passed down because it sharply captures the essence of power in human society. In every era and culture, the concentration of power has been an unavoidable phenomenon.
The structure where many people’s fates are determined by a single decision from someone in power is also an unchanging truth across time and place.
Why do people behave this way when they gain power? It reveals the enormous psychological impact that power has on humans.
When people obtain power, they easily fall into the illusion that their judgments are absolutely correct. Criticism from others becomes harder to reach them, and they start making decisions based purely on their moods and emotions.
On the other hand, people who follow those in power also support this structure. The attitude of watching the powerful person’s face and trying to align with their intentions actually encourages the leader’s arbitrary decisions.
This relates to human survival instinct. To survive within an organization, following the strong is the safest strategy.
This proverb teaches us about the dual nature of power. It’s both a driving force that moves society and a dangerous force that tosses people around.
Our ancestors saw through this truth and tried to pass it down to future generations as a warning.
When AI Hears This
Whether you turn your palm up or down, just that difference creates contrasting phenomena of clouds and rain. This expression perfectly demonstrates the principle that chaos theory shows mathematically: “tiny differences in initial values dramatically change results.”
Edward Lorenz, the founder of chaos theory, discovered in weather simulations that rounding errors in decimals (changing 0.506127 to just 0.506) produced completely different weather forecasts.
In other words, not just a “180-degree flip” like turning your palm, but even a tiny numerical change of about 0.001 causes unpredictable branching of results over time. What’s amazing about this proverb is how it visualizes that critical point through the action of “hand direction” that anyone can understand.
Even more interesting is the relationship between clouds and rain. Meteorologically, clouds are the preliminary stage of rain, a continuous phenomenon. Yet this proverb depicts them as two states that can be switched by the single variable of “hand direction.”
This has the same structure as a bifurcation point in phase transitions—like how water separates into liquid and gas states at 99 degrees versus 100 degrees. In chaotic systems, the entire system jumps to a different state the moment it exceeds a certain threshold.
Ancient poets may have grasped the mathematical essence of complex systems through bodily sensation.
Lessons for Today
This proverb teaches us how to deal with power. If you’re in a position of power, it’s important to be aware of how much impact your every word has on those around you.
You need an attitude of making careful judgments without being swept away by moods and emotions.
On the other hand, if you work under someone in power, it’s important to have your own judgment standards rather than blindly following. Even if the powerful person’s attitude changes, you don’t need to easily change your own values and beliefs.
Observe situations calmly and cultivate an eye for discerning the essence.
In modern society, the decentralization and transparency of power are advancing. We’re shifting from a structure where one powerful person decides everything to a system where multiple people exchange opinions and checks and balances function.
As a member of an organization, you too can contribute to creating an environment where healthy opinion exchange is possible.
Power is necessary in human society, but it’s equally important that it be properly controlled. By keeping this proverb in mind, you can maintain a healthy distance from power and help create better organizations and societies.
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