蝸角之爭

Chinese

land snail
horn; angle; role
horn; angle; role; actor; contend; horn-shaped; Chinese musical note
 
 's; him/her/it; this struggle; fight
trad. (蝸角之爭) 蝸 角 之 爭
simp. (蜗角之争) 蜗 角 之 争
Literally: “struggle between the snail horns”.

Etymology

From Zhuangzi:

戴晉人曰：「有所謂蝸者，君知之乎？」曰：「然。」「有國於蝸之左角者曰觸氏，有國於蝸之右角者曰蠻氏，時相與爭地而戰，伏屍數萬，逐北旬有五日而後反。」 [Traditional Chinese poetry, trad.]
戴晋人曰：「有所谓蜗者，君知之乎？」曰：「然。」「有国于蜗之左角者曰触氏，有国于蜗之右角者曰蛮氏，时相与争地而战，伏尸数万，逐北旬有五日而后反。」 [Traditional Chinese poetry, simp.]
From: Zhuangzi, circa 3rd – 2nd centuries BCE
Dài Jìnrén yuē: “Yǒu suǒwèi wō zhě, jūn zhī zhī hū?” Yuē: “Rán.” “yǒu guó yú wō zhī zuǒ jiǎo zhě yuē Chù shì, yǒu guó yú wō zhī yòu jiǎo zhě yuē Mán shì, shí xiàngyǔ zhēng dì ér zhàn, fú shī shùwàn, zhú běi xún yǒu wǔ rì ér hòu fǎn.” [Pinyin]
Dai Jinren said, "There is a creature called the snail—does Your Majesty know it?"
"Yes."
"On top of its left horn is a kingdom called Buffet, and on top of its right horn is a kingdom called Maul. At times they quarrel over territory and go to war, strewing the field with corpses by the ten thousands, the victor pursuing the vanquished for half a month before returning home."

Pronunciation

  • Mandarin
    (Pinyin): wōjiǎozhīzhēng, guājiǎozhīzhēng
    (Zhuyin): ㄨㄛ ㄐㄧㄠˇ ㄓ ㄓㄥ, ㄍㄨㄚ ㄐㄧㄠˇ ㄓ ㄓㄥ

Idiom

蝸角之爭

  1. petty squabble; quarrel over trivial matters

Descendants

Sino-Xenic (蝸角之爭):
  • → Korean: 와각지쟁(蝸角之爭) (wagakjijaeng)
  • → Japanese: 蝸(か)牛(ぎゅう)角(かく)上(じょう)の争(あらそ)い (kagyūkakujō no arasoi) (calque)

    • Korean

    Hanja in this term
    蝸角之爭

    Noun

    蝸角之爭 • (wagakjijaeng) (hangeul 와각지쟁)

    1. hanja form? of 와각지쟁 (“petty squabble”)
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