People & Bonds
他山之石
타산지석
tā shān zhī shí
Ta-san-ji-seok
他
다를 타
山
뫼 산
之
갈 지
石
돌 석
Character by character
Meaning
A stone from another hill — even a rough one can polish your own jade.
Origin
From the Book of Songs: “stones from other hills can be used to work jade.”
How it is used
Used to turn someone else’s failure into a lesson for yourself rather than a joke.
Hanja他山之石
Simplified他山之石
Korean reading타산지석
Pinyintā shān zhī shí
Frequently asked questions
Q. What does Ta-san-ji-seok mean?
他山之石 · A stone from another hill — even a rough one can polish your own jade.
Q. Where does Ta-san-ji-seok come from?
From the Book of Songs: “stones from other hills can be used to work jade.”
Q. How is Ta-san-ji-seok used?
Used to turn someone else’s failure into a lesson for yourself rather than a joke.
Idioms in the same group
管鮑之交 Gwan-po-ji-gyoThe friendship of Guan Zhong and Bao Shuya — friends who truly know each other.竹馬故友 Juk-ma-go-uAn old friend from bamboo-horse days — someone you grew up with.百年偕老 Baeng-nyeon-hae-roGrowing old together for a hundred years.同苦同樂 Dong-go-dong-nakSharing the hardship and the joy alike.人之常情 In-ji-sang-jeongThe ordinary feeling any human being would have.孤立無援 Go-rip-mu-wonStanding alone with no one to help — cut off on every side.
The idioms used in Korea mix phrases from the Chinese classics with ones coined in Korea. Where an expression is not used in China, the entry says so.