Equals EVERYTHING

有象無象
u.zou.mu.zou

Literally: exist – shape – nothing – shape

Alternately: All things; a Buddhist phrase combining “things with physical forms and things without physical forms” to denote the entirety of existence. By extension, “A large number of unexceptional people; rabble; the unwashed masses”; a term used to denigrate mob behavior or “the common folk.”

Notes: Kanji-literate readers may notice that 象 is the character for “elephant”; it just so happens that it can also mean “shape,” which is how it’s being used here.

Reading 有 as yuu or 象 as shou (both possible in other contexts) is considered an error in this compound. Similarly, replacing 象 with homophone 像, “image,” is an error.

It feels weird given the Buddhist connections, but my sources trace this phrase to a late-18th-century sharebon called 通言総籬 (Tsuugen soumagaki).

But where are we?