What is the origin of word 勉強 meaning "to study/learn"?


As a native Chinese speaker, 勉强 means something very different (it means to be
reluctant or forced to do something) for the same kanji/漢字. Might anyone know
how it came to mean learning or studying in Japanese?




According to Morohashi (大漢和辞典), the original Literary Sinitic meaning of the
compound word, 勉強 [m-jenX g-jangX] are indeed different: "1. Strive with all
effort. 2. Put effort in study. 3. Do business with small profit margin. 4.
Section from the book 顔氏家訓. 5. (modern Mandarin) force; compel."

In fact, definitions like this are closer to the modern Japanese meaning ( _to
study_ and even _to discount_ ) than to the Chinese ones ( _to force_ ,
_reluctantly_ , though _barely_ is similar to Meaning 1.) But we can do better
than that and search for the evolution of the Japanese meaning.

According to Nihon Kokugo Daijiten, the first usages of the word in native
Japanese texts used it in the meaning similar to "[person] surpassing
difficulties with great effort, enthusiastic, zealous", attested at least from
17th Century. A century later, it evolves to "reluctant, unwilling" (putting
effort to be unproductive), and even later, in Meiji era, gains a connotation
of "studying and striving all the practical skills to be modernized and
European". "Discounting" also appears around the late 1800s. Neither of these
is extremely away from the Classical meanings; however, the emphasis on study
seems to be an explicit Meiji thing.

Thus, probably, a real question here is "why did the Chinese meaning drift so
hard?" The destination is still easy to see: the shift "Put effort into
something > put effort into making someone do something" is not exceptional.

To conclude, all the meanings are not so different and surround the same
semantic fields. "Reluctant", not mentioned by 大漢和辞典, but becoming the only
meaning of 勉強 that appears in Korean and Vientamese, to say nothing about
appearing in Japanese as well, is a bit aberrant, but as an ironic extension
understandable (and Hanyu Dacidian has a quotation with that mweaning from
_Records of the Three Kingdoms_ , so we cannot claim it's new!). The shift to
"study" in Japanese is explicable by Meiji realities, and the remaining usages
both in Chinese and Japanese are allowed by Literary Sinitic. The modern
Mandarin usage "to compel" (also in Cantonese) is a bit strange, but also
understandable.




According to Morohashi (大漢和辞典), the original Literary Sinitic meaning of the
compound word, 勉強 [m-jenX g-jangX] are indeed different: "1. Strive with all
effort. 2. Put effort in study. 3. Do business with small profit margin. 4.
Section from the book 顔氏家訓. 5. (modern Mandarin) force; compel."

In fact, definitions like this are closer to the modern Japanese meaning ( _to
study_ and even _to discount_ ) than to the Chinese ones ( _to force_ ,
_reluctantly_ , though _barely_ is similar to Meaning 1.) But we can do better
than that and search for the evolution of the Japanese meaning.

According to Nihon Kokugo Daijiten, the first usages of the word in native
Japanese texts used it in the meaning similar to "[person] surpassing
difficulties with great effort, enthusiastic, zealous", attested at least from
17th Century. A century later, it evolves to "reluctant, unwilling" (putting
effort to be unproductive), and even later, in Meiji era, gains a connotation
of "studying and striving all the practical skills to be modernized and
European". "Discounting" also appears around the late 1800s. Neither of these
is extremely away from the Classical meanings; however, the emphasis on study
seems to be an explicit Meiji thing.

Thus, probably, a real question here is "why did the Chinese meaning drift so
hard?" The destination is still easy to see: the shift "Put effort into
something > put effort into making someone do something" is not exceptional.

To conclude, all the meanings are not so different and surround the same
semantic fields. "Reluctant", not mentioned by 大漢和辞典, but becoming the only
meaning of 勉強 that appears in Korean and Vientamese, to say nothing about
appearing in Japanese as well, is a bit aberrant, but as an ironic extension
understandable (and Hanyu Dacidian has a quotation with that mweaning from
_Records of the Three Kingdoms_ , so we cannot claim it's new!). The shift to
"study" in Japanese is explicable by Meiji realities, and the remaining usages
both in Chinese and Japanese are allowed by Literary Sinitic. The modern
Mandarin usage "to compel" (also in Cantonese) is a bit strange, but also
understandable.

