今昔(こんじゃく)

A literary compound expressing the contrast between past and present. Most commonly encountered in the set phrase 今昔(こんじゃく)の感(かん) (a feeling of how times have changed) and in the title of the famous literary work 今昔(こんじゃく)物語集(ものがたりしゅう).

Forms

今(こん) (now, present) + 昔(じゃく) (past, old times). Note the on'yomi reading じゃく for 昔(じゃく), which differs from the common kun'yomi むかし.

Common expressions

• 今昔(こんじゃく)の感(かん): a feeling of how times have changed — the most common usage
• 今昔(こんじゃく)の感(かん)に堪(た)えない: to be overwhelmed by the sense of change
• 今昔(こんじゃく)物語集(ものがたりしゅう): Konjaku Monogatari (a Heian-period collection of tales from Japan, China, and India)

Related words

• 昔(むかし): the past, old times — everyday word
• 往時(おうじ): the past, former days — literary
• 隔世(かくせい)の感(かん): a sense of being in a different era — similar nuance to 今昔(こんじゃく)の感(かん)