鄭衛桑間

Japanese

Etymology

Kanji in this term
鄭 衛 桑 間
てい
Jinmeiyō 		えい
Grade: 5 		そう
Grade: S 		かん
Grade: 2
on'yomi
Alternative spelling
鄭衞桑間 (kyūjitai)

From the Book of Rites (礼記 (Raiki)). Refers to the ancient Chinese states of 鄭 (Tei, “Zheng”) and 衛 (Ei, “Wei”). 桑間 (Sōkan, literally “among the mulberries”) was a place on the banks of the Pu River (濮 (Boku)) in Wei.

In this era, the folk music of Zheng and Wei was considered overly sentimental and licentious in contrast to the morally upright ceremonial music (雅楽 (gagaku)) and was scorned by court officials.

Idiom

鄭(てい)衛(えい)桑(そう)間(かん) • (teiei sōkan) 

  1. decadent, lewd, or vulgar music (music believed to corrupt public morals and lead to ruin / degeneration)
  2. (figurative) degenerate art or culture

Synonyms

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