鏡花水月

From metaphors common in Mahāyāna Buddhism, especially in the Prajñāpāramitā literature: Sanskrit प्रतिबिम्ब (pratibimba, “reflected image”) and दकचन्द्र (dakacandra, literally “water-moon”).[1] Early attestations in Chinese include the translation of the Pañcaviṃśatisāhasrikā Prajñāpāramitāsūtra by the Khotanese monk Mokṣala (無羅叉) [291]. The following attestations are from the works of Kumārajīva:[2]

若非色之物，則異今事。如鏡中像，水中月，見如有色，而無觸等，則非色也。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]

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若非色之物，则异今事。如镜中像，水中月，见如有色，而无触等，则非色也。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: Late 4th century–early 5th century, Hui Yuan (慧遠) and Kumārajīva (鳩摩羅什 (Jiūmóluóshí)), The Correspondences of Hui Yuan and Kumārajīva (《鳩摩羅什法師大義》), T1856

Ruò fēisè zhī wù, zé yì jīn shì. Rú jìng zhōng xiàng, shuǐ zhōng yuè, jiàn rú yǒu sè, ér wú chù děng, zé fēisè yě. [Pinyin]

If it is a formless object, then it is different from the matters of today. It is like an image in the mirror or the moon in the water, which appear to have a form but cannot be touched and such; these are formless.

解了諸法，如幻，如焰，如水中月，如虛空，如響，如揵闥婆城，如夢，如影，如鏡中像，如化。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]

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解了诸法，如幻，如焰，如水中月，如虚空，如响，如揵闼婆城，如梦，如影，如镜中像，如化。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: c. 404, Kumārajīva (鳩摩羅什 (Jiūmóluóshí)), trans. The Mahāprajñāpāramitā Sūtra (《摩訶般若波羅蜜經》), T0223

Jiěliǎo zhū fǎ, rú huàn, rú yàn, rú shuǐ zhōng yuè, rú xūkōng, rú xiǎng, rú qiántàpó chéng, rú mèng, rú yǐng, rú jìng zhōng xiàng, rú huà. [Pinyin]

Understanding all the dharmas is like fantasy, like a flame, like the moon in the water, like vanity, like an echo, like the (illusive) city of the gandharvas, like a dream, like a shadow, like an image in the mirror, like change.

像 (xiàng, “image”) in the original literature has been modified to 花 (huā, “flower”), mostly for poetic purposes.

鏡花水月

1. (literal) flowers reflected on a mirror and the moon reflected in the water
2. (figurative) fantasy, illusion, mere shadow, phantom, vision, something that is visible but having no substance

   • 阿彌陀佛，為人在世，原是鏡花水月。 [Written Vernacular Chinese, trad.]
     阿弥陀佛，为人在世，原是镜花水月。 [Written Vernacular Chinese, simp.]

     From: Qing dynasty, Qian Cai (錢彩), Jin Feng (金豐), 《說岳全傳》

     Ēmítuófó, wéirén zàishì, yuánshì jìnghuāshuǐyuè. [Pinyin]

     Amitābha, life in the world is originally a fantasy.

   • 鏡花水月閑消遣，何必名賢勝地逢。 [Written Vernacular Chinese, trad.]
     镜花水月闲消遣，何必名贤胜地逢。 [Written Vernacular Chinese, simp.]

     From: Qing dynasty, Hua Guangsheng (華廣生), 《白雪遺音》

     Jìnghuāshuǐyuè xián xiāoqiǎn, hébì míngxián shèngdì féng. [Pinyin]

     (please add an English translation of this usage example)

   • 銀行承諾的那些高收益率，最後多半因不符合條件而成鏡花水月。 [MSC, trad.]
     银行承诺的那些高收益率，最后多半因不符合条件而成镜花水月。 [MSC, simp.]

     From: 2007, 宏皓, 《理財改變命運》, page 248

     Yínháng chéngnuò de nàxiē gāo shōuyìlǜ, zuìhòu duōbàn yīn bù fúhé tiáojiàn ér chéng jìnghuāshuǐyuè. [Pinyin]

     Most of these high earnings yields, which banks promised that the investors would have, became illusions at last because they failed to meet the requirements.

3. (figurative) the subtle and profound beauty of poems that should not be comprehended by words literally

• 水月鏡像／水月镜像
• 海市蜃樓／海市蜃楼 (hǎishìshènlóu)
• 空中樓閣／空中楼阁 (kōngzhōnglóugé)

Borrowed from Chinese 鏡花水月／镜花水月 (jìnghuāshuǐyuè) above. See Etymology in Chinese section.

• (Tokyo) きょ​ーかすいげつ [kyóꜜòkà sùìgètsù] (Atamadaka – [1])[1]
• IPA^(key): [kʲo̞ːka̠ sɨᵝiɡe̞t͡sɨᵝ]

鏡(きょう)花(か)水(すい)月(げつ) • (kyōka suigetsu) ^{←きやうくわすいげつ (kyaukwasuigetu)?}

1. flowers reflected on a mirror and the moon reflected on the water's surface
2. (by extension, idiomatic) something that is visible but having no substance; illusion, mere shadow, phantom, vision
3. the subtle and profound beauty of poems that cannot be described in words​

• 鏡(きょう)花(か)水(すい)月(げつ)法(ほう) (kyōka suigetsu-hō): a style of expression or storytelling that does not directly describe things, and instead indirectly evokes the appearance of things

• 水(すい)月(げつ)鏡(きょう)花(か) (suigetsu kyōka, quasi-synonym)