The Shungokusatsu Poem

· Myriad Leaves


In Street Fighter 6, Gouki aka Akuma, performs his iconic finishing move, the Shungokusatsu (瞬獄殺, "instant hell slaying", or alternatively, "imprisoning death flash"), whilst reciting the following poem:

一瞬千撃 抜山蓋世 鬼哭啾啾 故豪鬼成

Isshun sengeki, batsuzangaisei, kikokushuushuu, yue (ni) Gouki (ni) naru

On a surface level, a literal translation of this would be: "A thousand strikes in one instant. Piercing mountains and covering worlds. Oni's restlessly wail and whimper, therefore, I become the mighty oni."

But there more to this, two of the lines are idioms (抜山蓋世 鬼哭啾啾), whose figurative meanings renders the poem translation as:

"A thousand strikes in an instant. Having herculean strength, the spine-chilling wailing of restless ghosts, for this reason, I am become the mighty oni"

You can take it both ways, but the very last line is written in the format of Classical Chinese poetry:

故豪鬼成

Yue (ni) Gouki (ni) naru

"Therefore I become the mighty oni"

"Mighty oni" itself being a literal translation of his own name Gouki.

These lines are in turn a reference to a moment in Masahiko Nakahira's Street Fighter Zero manga series.

The move itself takes usually, in the games, the form of Gouki floating towards the enemy, grabbing them and in a flash they lay defeated at his feet, and he displays the kanji for "heaven"(天) on his back.

UPDATE:

This has also been covered quite thoroughly on Eventhubs, though there are a few errors such as translating Gouki's name as "proud demon" rather than "mighty oni".

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