Proverb / Kotowaza
合縁奇縁
Whether people get along with one another or not is all due to a mysterious fate.
Matching fate and strange fate
Quick Answer
Whether people get along with one another or not is all due to a mysterious fate.
- Literal Image
- Matching fate and strange fate
- How to Use It
- Used to describe an unexpected bond between people, a sudden meeting, or to accept that some people are simply incompatible despite their best efforts.
Meaning
This expression describes how human compatibility and connections are governed by a mysterious destiny beyond our control. It suggests that while some people hit it off naturally, others may never see eye-to-eye regardless of effort. Rooted in Buddhist concepts of karma, it reflects the belief that all encounters are influenced by connections established in previous lives.
Literal Image
Matching fate and strange fate
How to Use It
Used to describe an unexpected bond between people, a sudden meeting, or to accept that some people are simply incompatible despite their best efforts.
Tone
Reflective and philosophical; can be used to express a sense of wonder or resigned acceptance regarding human relationships.
Examples
あの二人は初対面なのに意気投合してしまったね。これも合縁奇縁というものだろう。
Those two hit it off immediately despite meeting for the first time. I suppose that is what they call matching fate and strange fate.
長年の付き合いが縁切れたかと思えば、また不思議なきっかけで再会した。本当に合縁奇縁は不思議なものだ。
Just when I thought a long-term relationship had ended, we met again through a mysterious turn of events. Human connections really are strange things.
どれだけ努力しても気の合わない人というのはいる。それこそが合縁奇縁で、無理に相性を変えることはできないのだろう。
There are some people you just don't get along with, no matter how hard you try. That is simply the way fate works, and you cannot force compatibility.
Learning Notes
Key Vocabulary
This is a four-character idiomatic compound (yojijukugo) that uses Buddhist concepts. While the individual kanji are not extremely rare, the expression is formal and conceptually advanced.
合縁
あいえん / aien
harmonious connection; matching fate
奇縁
きえん / kien
strange connection; curious fate
縁
えん / en
fate; connection; bond
Usage Profile
Usage note: Do not use it to dismiss someone's effort to improve a relationship, as it can sound fatalistic.
Misread Risk
It is not limited to romantic relationships; it applies to all forms of human compatibility and interpersonal connections.
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Origin
The term originates from the Buddhist concept of 'innen' (因縁), which teaches that all phenomena arise from a combination of primary causes (in) and secondary conditions (en). In this context, the compatibility and encounters between people were believed to be determined by connections formed in previous lives. By the Edo period, the expression spread among the general population to describe the mysterious nature of human chemistry, particularly in romantic or marital contexts.
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