比ひ興きょう

noun

explicit and implied comparisons (literary devices in the Classic of Poetry)

Technical term from classical Chinese poetics, referring to the rhetorical techniques of 比 (explicit comparison) and 興 (implied comparison or evocative imagery) as used in the Shijing. Extremely rare in modern Japanese outside of scholarly contexts.

• 『詩し経きょう』の注ちゅう釈しゃくでは、比ひ興きょうの概がい念ねんがよく取とり上あげられる。

  In commentaries on the Classic of Poetry, the concept of 比興 is often discussed.

noun, nari-adjective (archaic / formal)

interesting; strange; unreasonable; lowly; cowardly

Archaic adjective (nari) with a range of negative or pejorative meanings, including 'strange', 'unreasonable', 'insignificant', and 'cowardly'. The exact sense depends on context and is now obsolete; modern equivalents vary by meaning (e.g., 面白い, 変だ, 理不尽だ, 卑しい, 卑怯だ).

• 古ふるい文ぶん献けんに「比ひ興きょうなる振ふる舞まい」とあるが、現げん代だいでは通つうじない。

  Old texts contain phrases like 比興なる振る舞い, but it is not understood today.