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Symbol · symbol_impermanence

Impermanence

The meaning that nothing lasts. DELIBERATELY NOT MERGED WITH symbol_transience, and the reason is on this row so the decision is checkable. symbol_transience was minted by sub-batch A from a Tate vanitas context - the shortness of a human life. This node comes from a Japanese-tattooing source writing about “the impermanence of all things”, a wider claim about existence rather than about a lifespan. Merging them would erase the difference between a memento mori and a cosmological statement. A reviewer who judges that too fine a distinction should merge them; the distinction is recorded rather than assumed.
Thin
Low confidencedraft

1 attested1 source · T2

Registry entry only

The corpus has no enrichment row for this concept (symbols), so it carries its label, description, aliases and provenance and nothing further. No visual traits or cautions are recorded — not because they failed to load, but because that data does not exist in the corpus.

Provenance

1 resolved

  • Japanese Tattoos and Their Meanings (opens in a new tab)

    Tier 2

    Tattooing 101

    Professional tattoo education page. Cited here for ONE architectural attestation only: "You’ll often see samurai warriors paired with temples as a way to tell a story about a brave and noble warrior who is ready to defend his honor and his people." The page's Japanese religious and mythological material is NOT drawn on here; it belongs to T11.10.

    professional tattoo source · retrieved 2026-08-30

Related concepts

1 link

Can symbolize · 1

  • ← incomingWind BarMotifAttested
    strength 0.50needs cultural review

    Second half of the same sentence cited on rel_t118c_0010, and it is a separate meaning rather than a restatement: “change” is that conditions alter, “the impermanence of all things” is a claim about existence. Same Tier 2 limitation, same scope to Japanese tattooing.