木もっ鶏けい

noun

wooden rooster

Literal meaning: a rooster carved from wood. Rarely used outside the context of the idiom 木鶏となる or the story from Zhuangzi.

• 「木もっ鶏けい」は、荘そう子じの寓ぐう話わに登とう場じょうする木き彫ぼりの鶏にわとりを指さす。

  木鶏 refers to the wooden rooster that appears in a parable from Zhuangzi.

noun

unflinching fighting cock; strong individual unaffected by adversity

Figurative use derived from the Zhuangzi story: a person who has reached a state of perfect composure, unmoved by external circumstances. Often used in the phrase 木鶏となる.

• 彼かれはどんな困こん難なんにも動どうじない、まさに木もっ鶏けいのような人じん物ぶつだ。

  He is unshaken by any hardship, truly a person like a wooden rooster.

• 長なが年ねんの修しゅ行ぎょうの末すえ、彼かれは木もっ鶏けいとなった。

  After years of training, he became an unflinching fighting cock.