Four-Character Idiom · People & Bonds · Kyojuro Rengoku

こうせいかい Kōsei Kai "The Young to Come Are Worthy of Awe" JLPT beyond Obscure / classical

Meaning

Those who come after carry unbounded potential and should be approached with respect — even by their elders. From the Analects of Confucius.

後から来る若者たちは無限の可能性を秘めており、畏敬の念を持って接するべきだという教え。

The Kyojuro Rengoku line

Verbatim from the source article

「そして今度は君たちが鬼殺隊を支える柱となるのだ」

"SOMEDAY YOU GUYS WILL BECOME HASHIRA AND BE THE PILLARS OF THE DEMON SLAYER CORPS."

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Why it fits Kyojuro Rengoku

Rengoku addresses three juniors as the future pillars of the Corps before he has stopped breathing. Kōsei-kai names exactly that orientation: the elder who recognises that the young are worthy of being treated as the future's equals, not its lessers.

Cultural note

Origin in classical / Buddhist / Confucian tradition

From the Analects: 「後生可畏、焉知来者之不如今也」 — "the young to come are worthy of awe; how can we know that they will not equal us?"

Sources

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