expression:

• by reading books you can count the wise philosophers of the past as friends (Mencius) - four character idiom

noun / adjectival noun:

• frivolity; superficiality; fickleness; lack of substance - four character idiom - obscure term ➜ 軽佻浮薄

noun:

• the 108 kleshas; the 108 afflictions - four character idiom - Buddhism term ➜ 煩悩

expression / noun:

• (person who is) once bitten twice shy; someone who has become overly cautious due to a bad experience - idiom - four character idiom

noun:

• always conducting oneself as though one were on a battlefield; being combat ready at all times (of a person) - four character idiom

~たる adjective / ~と adverb:

• one's prosperity being on the rise; one's fortune reaching its culmination - four character idiom

noun:

• stopgap measure; quick-fix solution - four character idiom

noun:

• different in appearance but essentially the same in content; equal in skills or workmanship but different in style or artistic flavor; the same for all practical purposes - four character idiom ➜ 同工異曲【どうこういきょく】

~の noun / noun:

• once in an emperor's reign; event that takes place only once in a sovereign's reign - four character idiom

noun:

• meagre sum of money - four character idiom

~の noun / noun:

• once in one's life; once in a lifetime - four character idiom

expression / noun:

• die; dice - four character idiom
• gambling with dice; playing hazard
• You can never tell what will pop up

noun:

• court nobles and other courtiers allowed into the Imperial Palace - four character idiom

noun:

• military expedition deep into enemy territory - four character idiom

noun / ~する noun:

• pursuing one overriding objective while forsaking all the others - four character idiom

noun:

• (falling into a) continuous decline; being on the wane - four character idiom

adjectival noun / noun:

• chaste (usu. to one's husband); faithful - four character idiom

noun:

• safe journey - four character idiom

noun / ~する noun:

• overcoming a difficulty; breaking through a barrier; clearing a hurdle - four character idiom

noun / ~する noun:

• show one's real ability; illustration of the distinctive character of (something) - four character idiom

noun:

• (with) one's face beaming with joy; smiling from ear to ear - four character idiom

noun:

• comical pair; pair of buffoons - four character idiom

noun:

• land-tax rate during the Edo period (the government took 60 percent of the year's rice crop and the farmers kept 40 percent) - four character idiom

noun:

• auspicious date - four character idiom

noun / ~の noun:

• serenity - four character idiom