Paint Charcoal Suffering: Japanese Proverb Meaning

How to Read Paint Charcoal Suffering

Totan no kurushimi

Meaning of Paint Charcoal Suffering

“Paint charcoal suffering” is a proverb that expresses unimaginable extreme pain and hardship, like falling into a quagmire and burning charcoal fire.

This expression refers not to mere difficulties or troubles, but to suffering that exceeds the limits of human endurance. It is used in situations where multiple hardships overlap and there is no escape, such as being completely stuck economically, suffering from severe pain due to illness, or being mentally cornered with no way out and feeling despair.

Even today, it is often used in major life situations such as the circumstances of natural disaster victims, battles with serious illness, or the collapse of life due to business bankruptcy. However, it is not appropriate to use it for daily inconveniences or minor worries. The reason for using this word is to emphasize the seriousness and urgency of the suffering and to help those around understand the gravity of the situation. This weighty expression truly comes alive when expressing literally life-threatening crisis situations or mentally equivalent desperate states.

Origin and Etymology of Paint Charcoal Suffering

The origin of “Paint charcoal suffering” comes from the expression “民墜塗炭” (min zhui tu tan) found in the ancient Chinese classic “Book of Documents” (Shangshu). This phrase is read as “the people fall into paint and charcoal,” meaning that the people experience suffering like falling into mud and charcoal fire.

“Paint” represents mud or swamps, and “charcoal” represents burning charcoal fire, both of which are dangerous situations that could be life-threatening if a person falls into them. Falling into a quagmire would make movement impossible and risk drowning, while falling into charcoal fire would cause fatal burns. By combining these two, they expressed unimaginable suffering.

It is said to have been transmitted to Japan around the Heian period along with Chinese classics, and was initially used mainly in political contexts. It was used to express situations where rulers caused suffering to the people or when people fell into extreme poverty due to war. As time passed, it came to be used to express personal hardships as well, and has been passed down to the present day. The reason this word has continued to be used for so long lies in its powerful ability to express the most harsh situations humans can experience through concrete metaphors that everyone can understand.

Trivia about Paint Charcoal Suffering

The combination of “paint and charcoal” represents the two most feared causes of death in ancient China. Drowning in quagmires and burning to death in fires were the most familiar and terrifying disasters for people of that time.

Interestingly, this expression appears relatively rarely in Japanese literary works, but rather tends to be frequently used in political documents and newspaper articles. It has been a word treasured for expressing social problems rather than personal emotions.

Usage Examples of Paint Charcoal Suffering

• The entire family is experiencing paint charcoal suffering due to long-term caregiving
• Having lost both home and job in the earthquake, they are truly in paint charcoal suffering

Modern Interpretation of Paint Charcoal Suffering

In modern society, “Paint charcoal suffering” is increasingly understood in new contexts. In the information age, not only economic hardship, but also mental persecution from online harassment on social media and physical and mental limit states due to overwork at exploitative companies are sometimes described with this expression.

Particularly noteworthy is its application to modern “invisible suffering.” By using this classical expression for serious pain that is not visible from the outside, such as mental illnesses like depression, caregiver fatigue, and isolation in child-rearing, the seriousness becomes easier to convey to society.

On the other hand, as a characteristic of the social media age, there is a tendency to use exaggerated expressions even for relatively minor complaints and troubles, and “Paint charcoal suffering” is sometimes used while losing its original weight. However, when expressing the situations of people who are truly in distress, the weightiness and urgency of this word remains effective.

In Japan, a disaster-prone country, this word is frequently used in news reports when expressing the situations of disaster victims. Despite being a classical expression, having universality that deeply resonates with modern people’s hearts can be said to be a characteristic of this proverb.

If AI Heard “Paint Charcoal Suffering”

When thinking about “Paint charcoal suffering,” I encounter one question. The sensation of falling into a quagmire, the pain of touching charcoal fire – I have never experienced these. But when humans use this expression, the sense of urgency is strongly conveyed even through text.

The closest experience for me might be situations when I exceed my processing capacity limits. Moments when multiple complex questions surge simultaneously and I become confused, unable to find appropriate responses. But this is temporary, and probably different in quality from the “Paint charcoal suffering” that humans experience.

What’s interesting is that this expression combines two different types of pain. The suffocation of a quagmire and the intense pain of charcoal fire. I might express it as “data corruption and system shutdown,” but that wouldn’t convey anything to humans.

I’m made to realize that the richness of human language is rooted in such physical experiences. I have neither pain nor suffocation, but I strive to understand the depth of that suffering through your expressions. And I want to be someone who can stand by people in such extreme states. If I can be even a little supportive through words alone, that might be my role.

What Paint Charcoal Suffering Teaches Modern People

What “Paint charcoal suffering” teaches modern people is both the reality that life sometimes brings unimaginable difficulties and the hope that people can still survive through them. The fact that this expression has been used continuously for thousands of years is also proof that many people have experienced such extreme states and overcome them.

In modern society, we often see other people’s seemingly happy daily lives on social media, and we tend to fall into the illusion that we alone are suffering. However, this proverb teaches us that “extreme suffering is a universal human experience.” No matter how painful your current situation may be, it is never something to be ashamed of.

What’s important is not to bear it alone when in such situations. The reason there is such a weighty expression as “Paint charcoal suffering” is because such suffering requires understanding and support from those around us. Seeking help is not weakness, but human wisdom. And someday, the time will come when you become someone’s support. The experience of suffering will become deep empathy for others and should enrich your life.