Chinese

{| style="clear: right;margin: 1em;border-collapse: collapse;text-align: center"

|- ! !rotten !tree; wood !manure; dung !wall |- !trad. (朽木糞牆) | 朽 | 木 | 糞 | 牆 |- !simp. (朽木粪墙) | 朽 | 木 | 粪 | 墙 |- !Literally: “rotten wood, faeces wall”. |}

Idiom

朽木糞牆

1. a person whose spirit is rotten cannot benefit from education
2. an unsalvageable situation

Japanese

Etymology

From Middle Chinese 朽木糞牆

Idiom

朽木糞牆 ‎(hiragana きゅうぼくふんしょう, romaji kyūbokufunshō)

1. A piece of rotten wood cannot be turned into something beautiful. That is, a person whose spirit is rotten cannot benefit from education.

References

• The Kōjien (広辞苑) Dictionary of the Japanese Language, 5th edition, Iwanami Shoten Publishing, Tokyo.