握髪吐哺

See also: 握髮吐哺

Japanese

Kanji in this term
握	髪	吐	哺
あく Grade: S	はつ Grade: S	と Grade: S	ほ Grade: S
on'yomi

Alternative spelling
握髮吐哺 (kyūjitai)

Alternative forms

• 吐哺(とほ)握髪(あくはつ) (toho akuhatsu)

Etymology

Yojijukugo (四(よ)字(じ)熟(じゅく)語(ご)), from Literary Chinese 握髮吐哺 (wòfàtǔbǔ). By surface analysis, 握髪(あくはつ) (akuhatsu, “fasten up one's hair”) + 吐哺(とほ) (toho, “spit out one's food”).

Originates from The Biography of the Duke of Zhou (魯周公世家) in the Records of the Grand Historian, in which the duke puts up his hair and jumps out of his bath, and spits out his food whilst dining, in order to attend to interviews with potential hirees.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [a̠kɯ̟ha̠t͡sɨ to̞ho̞]
• (Tokyo) あくはつとほ [àkúhátsú tóꜜhò] (Nakadaka – [5])

Idiom

握(あく)髪(はつ)吐(と)哺(ほ) • (akuhatsu toho) 

1. eagerly seeking out competent people; devoting oneself to finding good subordinates/workers

Synonyms

• 吐哺(とほ)捉髪(そくはつ) (toho sokuhatsu)
• 吐握(とあく)之(の)労(ろう) (toaku no rō)

References

• “握髪吐哺”, in 漢検四字熟語辞典 (Kanken Yojijukugo Jiten, “Kanji Kentei Four-Character-Idiom Dictionary”) (in Japanese), second edition, Tōkyō: Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation, 2012, →ISBN, page 63