41

Bundle 41: Pride: Positive or Poisonous

These essays are practically meant to be read together. Sizable passages in essays 1233, 1837, and 2009 differentiate 誇, 慢, and 傲. The bundle presents positive types of pride, including healthy self-regard, restaurant signs about proudly serving noodles, and pride in one's college, hometown, historical buildings, or advances such as the Shinkansen. The collection also shows how the Japanese condemn arrogance, boasting, hyperbole, and ostentation, an aversion originating with a Buddhist view of pride as a "poison." Because 玩 has to do with toying with others, essay 1982 also touches on arrogance multiple times.
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誇
boast
JOK: 1233
Learn about the positive kind of pride that even dogs (and flowers!) can feel, and see what Japan is proud to show the world. Discover five ways of saying "to take pride in." Also learn to say "I'm proud of you" and "He proudly made an announcement." Read about terms for "ostentation" and "exaggeration," finding out how one of them relates to political propaganda.
慢
ridicule
JOK: 1837
Many 慢 terms involve pride. These words run the gamut from healthy self-regard (in a few cases) to pompous self-importance (much more of the time). However, 慢 also plays a role in 我慢 (がまん: patience), an incredibly positive quality that the Japanese revere. The essay explains how this is possible and examines various views on what 我慢 truly means in Japanese culture.
玩
toy
JOK: 1982
Find out about traditional Japanese toys (e.g., limbless kokeshi and wheeled pigeons) and see how they vary regionally. Learn to talk about fiddling with hair, playing with dolls, and keeping pets. Then lose your innocence with terms for toying with people or treating them as playthings. Afterward, redeem yourself by learning to express deep appreciation for things like calligraphy.
傲
treat someone
JOK: 2009
Find out why 岸 (beach) is in a term for "arrogance," learn how treating others to a meal might relate to 傲, see why people often refer to a clan from 800+ years ago, discover who wrote a book with the translated title "Japanese Arrogance, Korean Arrogance," and learn to say, "The foreign missionaries treated the Chinese with the arrogance of those who belonged to a victorious nation."
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