浄1517 JŌ meaning ‘clear, without impurities’ (regarding
L1 pure, clean still water as clear, unmuddied). The mean-
ing of is given in Shuowen as the name of a
9 strokes pool near the capital of Lu (a state in ancient
China). Given this, Katō treats the associated
JŌKA purification sense of in as unclear (Ogawa also takes
FUJŌ filth this approach), and regards the meaning ‘clear,
JŌSUI clear water pure’ for as a borrowed usage in place of .
Despite some differences, all the above schol-
Seal ; traditional . Consists of 42 ‘water’, ars are in agreement in tracing the origins of
and (traditional form of 558 ‘conflict’) as
phonetic, with associated sense disputed. Gu / back to . GY2008:700-701; OT1968:574;
and Ogawa regard as an abbreviation of ; KJ1970:431.
both listed in Shuowen; Gu lists a bronze form
for . consists of ‘water’, plus (tradi- Mnemonic: CONFLICT OVER PURE, CLEAR
tional form of 548 ‘quiet, calm’, see also 558),
taken here by Gu as semantic and phonetic, WATER
剰1518 JŌ, amatsusae meaning ‘move (something) along’, giving
L1 surplus, besides ‘send/give valuables’; Katō is in general agree-
ment. According to Gu, this referred origi-
11 strokes nally to giving a dowry, and ‘excess, surplus’
evolved as an extended sense. As to the popu-
JŌYO surplus lar form , Ogawa interprets this as /
YOJŌ surplus 198 ‘knife, cut, sword’, with 336 (‘ride, load
KAJŌ surplus, excess onto’) as phonetic with associated sense ‘ex-
cess’, giving ‘excess which is cut off’, and hence
Bronze and seal forms ( ): , . is ‘surplus, superfluous’. The meanings ‘besides,
considered to be a popular form used for , moreover’ are extended. GY2008:1448-9,1096;
which itself comprises 10 ‘shell (currency), KJ1970:887; OT1968:119.
valuables’, and (traditional form of 1731
‘[royal] We’) as semantic and phonetic in Mnemonic: RIDE WITH SURPLUS SWORD
the sense ‘give’, an extension of the original
畳1519 JŌ, tatami, tatamu such mats were probably quite thin and readily
L2 tatami mat, size, folded. Later, though, they became much more
fold, pile, repeat substantial in construction, having a stiff core
by tradition made of rice straw covered with
12 strokes a woven cover of rush straw. Being of a set
size (approximately six feet by three, though
JŌKU repeated phrase there can be minor variation), with the length
NIJŌ two-mat size always twice the width, tatami mats are also
tatamikomu fold up used as a measure of room size. The abbrevi-
ated modern form , which has lost the short
Seal ; traditional . Has 1188 (‘good, vertical stroke from its lower element and
proper’), here in its original sense ‘sacrificial two ‘fields’, was officially adopted into the Tōyō
meat piled up’ with emphasis on ‘piled up’, and kanji List promulgated in 1946. OT1968:673;
originally 1502 ( ‘bright, clear’; originally, GY2008:1673; KJ1970:718-9. We suggest taking
depiction of stars in the sky) (later 畾 [CO,
‘divided fields’], regarded here as variant of ), as ‘not quite proper’. Take as ‘field’ 63.
as phonetic with associated sense ‘many’, thus
overall meaning ‘pile up, accumulate, repeat’. Mnemonic: REPEATEDLY FOLD PILES OF
Used in Japanese for the verb tatamu ‘fold over,
pile up’, and then for tatami ‘mat’. Originally, PROPER TATAMI MATS IN A FIELD!?
450 The Remaining 1130 Characters
縄1520 JŌ, nawa ers’. Note: as an independent graph, 黽 means
L1 rope, cord ‘frog, toad’. As the phonetic in , Shuowen
regards it as an abbreviation of NJK ‘fly’,
15 strokes though this is academic, since it does serve
only as phonetic here and has no semantic
Okinawa Okinawa role. OT1968:792; DJ2009:v3:1071,1107;
nawabari cordon, ‘patch’ GY2008:1353. We suggest taking the right-
JIJŌJIBAKU fall in own trap hand part of 1520 as two ‘days’ 66 and the
down stroke as cord/rope.
Seal ; a late graph (Shuowen); traditional
. Has 29 ‘thread’, and CO 黽 (see Note Mnemonic: THREADING ROPE TAKES TWO
below) as phonetic with associated sense DAYS
‘become twisted’ (Ogawa), giving ‘twisted fib-
壌1521 JŌ ment’, plus a phonetic with associated sense
L2 earth, soil ‘remove’. Resultant overall sense ‘remove gar-
ment’ is explained in Shuowen, with reference
16 strokes to a Han time edict directing the populace
to remove outer garments and work in the
DOJŌ earth, soil fields. Abbreviation in shape of right-hand
JŌDO loamy soil element is standard in modern Japanese (see
TENJŌ heaven and earth e.g. 1522). MS1995:v1:280-81; KJ1970:554;
O1968:226; GY2008:1952. We suggest taking
Seal ; traditional . Has 64 ‘earth, the right-hand part as ‘six’ 80, ‘well’ 1575,
ground’, and (‘remove garment’; see Note
below) as phonetic with associated sense and 䠞 as a variant of ‘clothing’ 444.
‘soft and fertile, soft’, giving ‘soft and and
fertile soil’. Mizukami lists a proposed bronze Mnemonic: GROUND AROUND SIX WELLS IS
equivalent. Note: the seal form corresponding
to block script is made up of 444 ‘gar- CLOTHED IN RICH SOIL
嬢1522 JŌ basis of one who is in charge of a house-
L1 young lady, daughter hold) and then too for ‘girl, young lady’. The
Shuowen itself explains as meaning ‘confu-
16 strokes sion’, or alternatively ‘fat, corpulent’, and on
the basis of the latter sense Shirakawa takes
REIJŌ young lady
AIJŌ beloved daughter to refer to corpulent females, both moth-
oJŌSAN young lady ers and daughters. Katō, however, considers
this interpretation to be flawed. In the Tang
Seal , a late graph (Shuowen); traditional . Dynasty, both and appear to have had
Has 37 ‘woman’, and (‘remove garment’; a polite connotation (‘lady’ [Schuessler]).
see 1521 Note) as phonetic with associated OT1968:263; KJ1970:554-5; DJ2009:v3:1027-8;
sense taken in one view as ‘superior’, giving SS1984:460; AS2007:401. As with 1521, we
original meaning ‘mother’, and then – through again suggest taking the right-hand part as
confusion with the homophonous graph
2014 ‘young lady, daughter’ – used also for ‘six’ 80, ‘well’ 1575, and 䠞 as a variant of
‘daughter, girl’ (Ogawa). Katō also takes ‘high,
lofty’ as one possible associated sense, but ‘clothing’ 444.
notes ‘take charge’ as another, again leading
to the meaning ‘mother’ (probably on the Mnemonic: YOUNG LADY HAS ENOUGH
CLOTHES TO FILL SIX WELLS!
The Remaining 1130 Characters 451
錠1523 JŌ Seal ; a late graph (Shuowen). Has 16
L1 lock, tablet ‘metal’, and 371 (‘fix’, ‘decide’) as semantic
and phonetic, meaning ‘stable, steady’ (Gu),
16 strokes giving ‘metal artefact which is stable’, referring
originally to an ancient bronze ritual food ves-
JŌmae lock sel with legs (Ch.: ding). By extension or loan,
teJŌ handcuffs it came to denote metal ingots or other ingot-
JŌZAI pill, tablet shaped items such as ink cakes and tablets.
‘Lock’ appears to be a Japanese-only sense.
譲1524 JŌ, yuzuru GY2008:1611; OT1968:1046; www.britishmu-
L1 hand over, yield seum.org/explore/highlights (bronze ding).
20 strokes Mnemonic: A LOCK IS A METAL OBJECT THAT
FIXES THINGS IN PLACE
JŌHO concession
JŌTO transfer Seal ; traditional . Has 118 ‘words;
oyayuzuri patrimony speak’, and (‘remove garment’; see 1521
Note)) as phonetic with associated original
醸1525 JŌ, kamosu sense taken either as i] ‘charge, blame’, giving
L1 brew, cause ‘charge, lay an accusation’ (Ogawa), or ii] ‘push
into’, giving ‘push someone into question-
20 strokes ing’ (noted by Mizukami). Katō, who arrives
at a similar overall meaning, i.e. ‘two persons
JŌZŌ brewing blame each other’, regards the later pre-
JŌSEI brew, cause dominant sense ‘concede, yield’ as a loan use.
kamoshidasu cause OT1968:945; MS1995:v2:1215-17; KJ1970:553-
4; AS2007:439. As with 1521, and linking in
with the 1522 mnemonic, we suggest taking
the right-hand part as 80 ‘six’, 1575 ‘well’,
and 䠞 as a variant of 444 ‘clothing’.
Mnemonic: YIELD TO WORDS – HAND OVER
CLOTHES FROM SIX WELLS
Seal ; late graph (Shuowen). Has 318
‘wine’, and (‘remove garment’; see 1521
Note) as phonetic with associated sense ‘cram,
pack tightly’, thus overall meaning ‘pack tightly
and make ferment’. ‘Cause’ is an extended
meaning. OT1968:1029; TA1965:358-60;
KJ1970:555. As with 1521, and linking in with
the 1522 mnemonic, we suggest taking the
right-hand part as 80 ‘six’, 1575 ‘well’, and
䠞 as a variant of 444 ‘clothing’.
Mnemonic: BREWING ALCOHOL IN SIX WELLS
CAUSED RUIN TO CLOTHES
452 The Remaining 1130 Characters
拭1526 SHOKU, nuguu, fuku Late, post-Shuowen graph. Has 34 ‘hand’,
L1 wipe, sweep, polish and 311 (‘form, ceremony’) as phonetic
with associated sense ‘make clean’, thus ‘clean
9 strokes with/by hand’, i.e. ‘wipe’. Some scholars take
as wipe using some object (Tōdō, Shirakawa).
tenugui hand towel/wipe OT1968:413; TA1965:74-80; SS1984:463.
FUSSHOKU sweep away
fukikomu wipe, shine, polish Mnemonic: WIPE HANDS FOR THE CEREMONY
殖1527 SHOKU, fueru/yasu ‘rot, decay’, (Ogawa). ‘Increase’ is seen as a
L1 increase, enrich loan sense by Katō. Ogawa considers ‘increase’
derives from the graph having been used in-
12 strokes terchangeably with 337 ‘plant’ at one stage
(both were homophones in Late Han), ‘increase’
SEISHOKU procreation being an extended sense from ‘plant’. Tōdō,
RISHOKU money making like Shirakawa, links these two graphs and the
fuedaka increment underlying words. KJ1970:557; OT1968:544;
TA1965:89.
Seal ; late graph (Shuowen). Has ‘bone
fragment; die’ (see 1441), and 192 (‘direct, Mnemonic: INCREASED BARE BONES
upright’) as phonetic with associated sense
taken either as i] ‘adhere, be sticky’, thus ‘flesh DIRECTLY ENRICH GROUND
on corpse rots and goes mushy’ (Katō), or ii]
飾1528 SHOKU, kazaru bronze form. Alternatively, is taken as ‘person
L1 decorate in front of food vessel’ ( here is a variant of
13 strokes 41 ‘person’), with ‘cloth’, thus ‘wipe food
utensils clean’ (Shirakawa). In the latter inter-
SŌSHOKU decoration pretation, ‘make nice, decorate’ may be seen as
kubikazari necklace an extended sense. Mizukami lists a proposed
kazarimono decoration bronze equivalent. Note: The meaning of
is given as ‘provisions’ in Shuowen, and ‘feed’
Seal . Has 1232 ‘cloth’, and (CO; see in Yupian. OT1968:319; MS1995:v2:1456-7;
Note below) taken in one view as phonetic with SS1984:465; ZY2009:v4:1529.
associated sense ‘wipe’, giving ‘wipe clean with
cloth’, and by extension ‘make nice, decorate’ Mnemonic: PERSON IN FRONT OF FOOD
(Ogawa, Mizukami). Mizukami lists a proposed
VESSEL WEARS DECORATED CLOTH
触1529 SHOKU, fureru, sawaru Seal ; late graph (Shuowen); traditional .
L2 touch, feel Has 97 ‘horn’, and (see 766, ‘caterpillar;
Chu [name of ancient Chinese state]’) as pho-
13 strokes netic with associated sense ‘strike’, thus ‘push/
stab with horn’ (still a meaning in Chinese); by
SHOKUSHU feeler successive extensions of meaning, ‘infringe, vio-
SESSHOKU contact late’, ‘touch’. Abbreviation of right-hand element
fureau touch, contact
to 60 ‘insect’ appears to be a late modifi-
cation (block script). OT1968:918; TA1965:285;
GY2008:1633.
Mnemonic: TOUCH HORNED
INSECT – UNFORGETTABLE FEEL!
The Remaining 1130 Characters 453
嘱1530 SHOKU Seal ; late graph (Shuowen); traditional
L1 request, entrust . Has 22 ‘mouth, speak’, and / 766
13 strokes (‘belong; genus’) as phonetic with associ-
ated sense taken either as i] ‘instruct verbally’
ISHOKU commission (Ogawa, Tōdō), or ii] ‘make something stick’
SHOKUBŌ expectation (Katō), in either case giving the overall mean-
SHOKUTAKU commission ing ‘instruct verbally, instruct’. OT1968:196;
TA1965:285; KJ1970:558.
Mnemonic: ENTRUSTED TO SPEAK ABOUT
WHAT BELONGS
辱1531 JOKU, hazukashimeru bronze forms show clams with muscle tissue
L1 insult, humiliate outside the shell to enable movement.
represents a hand holding a clam shell sharp-
10 strokes ened for cutting vegetation. This etymology is
clearly seen in the OBI form for 386 ‘farm-
BUJOKU insult ing’, a graph which incorporates . ‘Shame,
KUTSUJOKU humiliation humiliation’ is usually seen as a loan usage,
SETSUJOKU vindication but it may reflect an extended meaning simi-
lar to the English ‘cutting remark’. KJ1970:561-
Seal ; late graph (Shuowen). Has 920 2,948; MS1995:v2:1280-81; OT1968:288;
‘hand’ beneath ‘Dragon’ (fifth of the Twelve SS1984:466.
Branches used in traditional Chinese culture
for purposes such as timekeeping). Note that Mnemonic: HAND OUT HUMILIATING
‘dragon’ is an early (OBI) loan use of , which
derives from a pictograph of a large clam INSULTS AS CUTTING AS A CLAM-SHELL
(bivalve mollusc); Katō considers the OBI and
尻1532 shiri (‘nine’) as phonetic with associated sense
L1 buttocks, rear, (back)
‘hole, orifice’, giving ‘anus’ and by extension
end, tail terms such as ‘buttocks’, ‘rear’, ‘end’, ‘bottom’.
5 strokes Over time, the meaning of ‘anus’ itself has
been virtually displaced by these extended
shirioshi backing, support meanings, and the common term for ‘anus’
kawajiri river mouth
shippo* tail nowadays is shiri no ana (‘buttock hole’) or
the medical term (kōmon). KJ1970:457;
Seal ; a late graph (Shuowen). Has 256 TA1965:225; OT1968:295.
‘corpse, slumped body’, sometimes – as here
– in the latter sense ‘(living) body’, and 13 Mnemonic: NINE SLUMPED BODIES HAVE
NINE PAIRS OF BUTTOCKS
伸1533 SHIN, nobiru/basu Seal ; a late graph (Shuowen). Consists of
L2 stretch, extend 41 ‘person’, and 338 (‘say, expound’) as
7 strokes phonetic with associated sense ‘stretch, extend’,
giving ‘person grows’; meaning then general-
SHINSHUKU elasticity ized to ‘stretch, extend’. KJ1970:574; TA1965:
TSUISHIN postscript 754-6; OT1968:54; SS1984:468.
senobi stretch on tiptoe
Mnemonic: PERSON EXTENSIVELY
STRETCHES OUT WHAT HE HAS TO SAY
454 The Remaining 1130 Characters
芯1534 SHIN A very late, post-Shuowen graph. Consists of
L1 core, padding, wick, 53 ‘vegetation, plant’, with 164 ‘heart’ as se-
mantic and phonetic, giving ‘core/pith of plant
pencil lead or vegetation’. Originally referred in particular
to a type of rush, the oily pith of which can
7 strokes be used as a lamp wick, leading to extended
senses such as ‘wick’ and also to denote the
SHINJI padding central part of items such as in ‘padding (of
TŌSHIN lamp wick quilt)’, ‘(pencil) lead’. GY2008:384; OT1968:845.
SHINdashi centering
Mnemonic: THE CORE OF A PLANT IS ITS HEART
辛1535 SHIN, karai, tsurai of ownership. Tattooing was also one of the
L2 sharp, bitter ancient Five Punishments, the others being
cutting off the nose, cutting off a foot, castra-
7 strokes tion, and capital punishment (ancient Chinese
culture exhibits a fondness for numerical
SHINKU hardship categories). The original meaning ‘tattooing
karaMI sharp taste needle’ (for slaves and criminals) gave rise to
karōjite barely various extended senses such as ‘crime’, ‘pain-
ful’, ‘bitter, pungent’. The additional meaning
OBI ; seal . Originally, pictograph of ‘eighth of the ten Heavenly Stems’ (used in the
a large needle with sideways projections traditional Chinese year-counting system) is
partway down, presumably to make it easier a loan use. MS1995:v2:1274-5; KJ1970:942-3;
to push the needle into the target surface. The OT1968:989; AS2007:538. We suggest taking
significance of the top horizontal stroke in OBI the graph as 77 ‘stand’ and 35 ‘ten’.
and seal (changed to near-vertical or vertical
in block script) is not clear. This graph is widely Mnemonic: STAND ON TEN SHARP NEEDLES
considered to represent a needle for tattooing
the foreheads of slaves and criminals as a mark – A BITTER EXPERIENCE!
侵1536 SHIN, okasu element. The seal form no longer has , but
L1 invade, violate has 41 ‘person’ added; the second element
is taken by several commentators as semantic
9 strokes and phonetic to mean ‘sweep away defile-
ment’, giving overall meaning ‘sweep away
SHINNYŪ invasion defilement and cleanse’, and ‘invade’ as a loan
SHINGAI violation use (Mizukami, Katō). Ogawa prefers to regard
SHINRYAKU aggression ‘invade’ as an extended sense from his pro-
jected original meaning ‘sweep and advance’.
OBI ( ); seal . All OBI forms seem to Note: was originally (OBI) a pictograph of
lack 41 ‘person’; some have , made up of a broom stood bristle-end up, resting against
some type of support or frame. GY2008:884-
2003 ‘hand’ holding ‘broom’ (NJK, see 5; MS1995:v1:76-8,436-7; KJ1970:251-2;
Note below), while some others have these two OT1968:64-5. We suggest taking as hand,
elements plus 108 ‘ox, cow’. Gu interprets as a cover, and 2003 as another hand.
the latter, more complex OBI type as signifying
someone holding a broom to make an ox/cow Mnemonic: INVADED BY PERSONS WITH
move forward slowly and sweep dirt from it (a
custom he notes as still practised in farming COVERED HANDS
villages), and hence ‘sweep clean’; Mizukami
also lists OBI forms which include the ‘ox, cow’
element, though he makes no reference to this
The Remaining 1130 Characters 455
津1537 SHIN, tsu who takes to be the original way of writing
L1 harbor, ferry, , considers on the basis of the OBI equivalent
crossing place that originally depicted a person crossing
a river or stream using a pole, and hence ‘river
9 strokes crossing place’. Ogawa, alternatively, analyzes
as ‘water, river’, plus as phonetic with as-
SHINSHIN brimful sociated sense ‘advance’, giving ‘cross river and
tsunami tidal wave advance, river crossing’, and the means to do so,
tsutsuuraura throughout land i.e. ‘ferry’. The meaning ‘harbor’ is a Japanese-on-
ly usage. KJ1970:55-6; GY2008:956; OT1968:574.
Seal ; a late graph (Shuowen). Analyses vary. We suggest taking as ‘brush in hand’.
In one view, has / 42 ‘water, liquid’, and
Mnemonic: CROSSING WATERS OF HARBOR
400 (‘writing brush’), itself as abbreviation
of (‘writing brush hairs’) as phonetic with BY FERRY, BRUSH IN HAND
associated sense ‘river crossing place’, giving
overall meaning ‘river crossing place’ (Katō). Gu,
唇1538 SHIN, kuchibiru , there was another graph , having 22
L1 lip(s) ‘mouth; speak’ as determinative as opposed to
10 strokes . Originally, meant ‘be startled’, but this
graph was borrowed from the Later Han period
SHIN’ON labial sound with a second meaning, viz. ‘lips’, and the two
KŌSHIN lips graphs were used interchangeably until the
INSHIN labia Song and Yuan dynasties (Gu). The later Kangxi
zidian prescribed only as correct usage for
Seal form A ( ) ; seal form B ( ) ; late the meaning ‘lips’, treating as erroneous in
graphs (both are listed, as separate entries, in this sense. The form was officially approved
Shuowen). At the seal stage, the graph meaning in Japan when included in the Jōyō List prom-
‘lips’ was written ( 209 ‘flesh, meat; body’), ulgated in 1981. GY2008:1016; OT1968:823;
and (originally, pictograph of large clam; see DJ2009:v1:117; ZY2009:v2:345; SK1996:1356.
1531) as phonetic with associated sense ‘shake,
tremble, move quickly’, giving ‘(part of) body Mnemonic: LIPS SHUT MOUTH LIKE A CLAM
which moves quickly’, i.e. ‘lips’. Separate from
娠1539 SHIN associated sense as i] ‘heavy, pregnant’,
L1 pregnancy (Ogawa), or ii] ‘shake, move in jumpy man-
ner’ (here unborn child moving in womb),
10 strokes (Shirakawa, Gu), or iii] ‘pile up, duplicate’
(Katō). Overall meaning is unanimously ‘be
NINSHIN pregnancy pregnant’. Schuessler favors interpretation ii].
NINSHINKANŌ fertile KJ1970:560; OT1968:259; MS1995:v1:330-31;
NINSHINCHŪ pregnant SS1984:471; GY2008:1163; AS2007:611.
OBI ; seal . Has 37 ‘woman’, and Mnemonic: FEMALE CLAM IS PREGNANT
1531 (orig. ‘large clam’) as phonetic with
振1540 SHIN, furu/ri/ruu Seal ; late graph (Shuowen). Has 34
L1 wave, swing, airs, ‘hand’, and (orig. ‘large clam’, see 1531) as
phonetic with associated sense ‘shake, move
manner, after about’, thus ‘shake about’ (Ogawa). Katō,
however, takes orig meaning ‘open up (a
10 strokes clam)’, and ‘move about, shake’ as extended
sense from clam moving about. Furi ‘pos-
SHINDŌ swing tures (in dance); manner’ derives from kun
furikiru shake off
ninenburi after two years
456 The Remaining 1130 Characters
reading furu ‘shake’, as also the verbal suffix Mnemonic: WAVE CLAM IN HAND IN
-buru ‘pose, put on airs’. Use of for another SWINGING MANNER
suffix, -buri ‘after (time interval)’, is also loan
use based on sound value furu. OT1968:414;
KJ1970:560-61.
浸1541 SHIN, hitasu/ru soaked in sacred wine, giving ‘ritually cleanse
L1 soak, immerse a shrine’. The seal script, as the phonetic for
this graph, has , comprising 2003 ‘hand’
10 strokes beneath ‘broom’ (NJK), both these being
beneath ‘roof, dwelling’ (later simplified at
SHINSHOKU erosion block script stage to ); the associated sense
SHINSUI inundation is taken either as i] ‘insert, put in’ (Ogawa), or
mizubitashi flooding ii] ‘soak’ (Katō), in either case giving overall
meaning ‘soak in water/liquid’. GY2008:1137;
OBI ; seal . Gu gives OBI form of water SS1984:472; OT1968:578; KJ1970:252. Take 彐
droplets with NJK 1536 ‘broom’ and as hand, as cover, and as other hand.
30 ‘roof, building’, which he takes to mean
‘gradually sweep clean a building’. Based on Mnemonic: SOAK HANDS, COVERING THEM
seal equivalent, Shirakawa proposes another
original meaning, taking specifically as WITH WATER
‘shrine’ and the broom as one that has been
紳1542 SHIN that was used to denote more elaborate
L1 gentleman, belt sashes of a type worn by males of noble
status, thus giving rise to the extended sense
11 strokes ‘gentleman’. Mizukami lists several proposed
bronze equivalents. In Chinese, in addition to
SHINSHI gentleman ‘gentleman’, this graph retains meanings of
SHINSHIROKU Who’s Who ‘bind’ and ‘waistband’, whereas ‘sash, belt’ is
SHINSHITEKI gentlemanly effectively redundant in Japanese. SS1984:474;
MS1995:v2:1010-12; TA1965:756. We suggest
Seal . This graph has 29 ‘thread, cord’, taking the elements of the modern form
together with 338 (‘say, expound’) as a as comprising 66 ‘sun’ and a long vertical
phonetic with an associated sense taken in stroke representing piercing.
one analysis as ‘extend, stretch’, this being
interpreted to give the following overall Mnemonic: SUN SEEMS PIERCED BY THREAD
meanings: i] ‘long sash to extend around
the waist’ (Mizukami, Tōdō), or ii] ‘sash to – WHAT CAN A GENTLEMAN SAY?
wear to straighten body posture’ (Mizukami).
Shirakawa, by contrast, takes the associated Or: FINE THREADS ON BELT SAYS HE’S A
sense as ‘bundle/put together’, thus giving
‘sash to bring garments together’. It appears GENTLEMAN
診1543 SHIN, miru Seal ; a late graph (Shuowen). Has
L1 diagnose, examine 118 ‘words, speak,’, together with 㐱 (CO,
‘thick/luxuriant hair’, etc; see Note below) as
12 strokes phonetic with associated sense taken either
as i] ‘without gap/omission’, giving ‘make
SHINDAN diagnosis a judgement without omission’ (Tōdō), or
SHINSATSU examination ii] ‘press down’, giving ‘press pulse of sick
ŌSHIN house-call
The Remaining 1130 Characters 457
person and check, examine’ (Ogawa). From ing. This is not particularly significant since
an early stage the concept of examination the dictionary or central meaning of 㐱 is
and judgement was narrowed to health. unrelated to its associated sense. Mnemoni-
Note: 㐱 is comprised of the determinative cally, can be taken properly as person,
character (‘feathers’, ‘hairs’, see 115), in or alternatively it could be taken as a cover.
Tōdō’s view, a pictographic representation of MS1995:v1:44-6;TA1965:743-6; GY2008:514.
long hair, beneath an element which in the
seal form is 41 ‘person’, modified in block Mnemonic: WORDY DIAGNOSIS WHEN
script to . Mizukami also agrees regarding PERSON HAS THREE HAIRS EXAMINED
the seal stage, but suggests OBI and bronze
forms might instead depict a person urinat- Or: WORDY DIAGNOSIS IS TO COVER UP
THOSE THREE HAIRS
寝1544 SHIN, neru/kasu room’, indicated by the later addition of
L2 sleep, lie down ‘frame, bed’. Katō is in agreement in broad
terms, though not on as a later addition.
13 strokes Mizukami treats one of the forms listed
by Katō, viz. (listed in Shuowen) as the
SHINSHITSU bedroom predecessor of , taking as made up of
neiru fall asleep
nekashimono unsold goods ‘roof, building’ over person 41 and as
phonetic with associated sense taken either
Bronze ; seal forms include ; a late graph as i] ‘ritually cleanse person with broom’,
(Shuowen); the traditional form has (1488, giving ‘purification building/room for sacred
and see below), not . Ancestral OBI and ritual’, or ii] ‘gradually enter deep inside’,
bronze forms have 30 ‘roof, building’ over giving ‘place (room) deep inside a house’; by
extension, ‘place to sleep’. An abbreviated
‘broom’ 1536, some additionally with shape close to occurs already in clerical
2003 ‘hand’. Shuowen lists a small number script.OT1968:282; KJ1970:252; SK1984:226;
of different graphs which have been treated MS1995:v1:388-9; DJ2009:v2:592,602. We
as ancestral forms of , and the analyses of suggest taking as ‘bed on its end’, ‘roof/
commentators reflect this variation. Ogawa building’; 彐 as ‘hand’, as ‘another hand’,
gives a bronze form which he analyses as and as a ‘cover’.
‘roof, building’ over (‘ritually cleanse’) Mnemonic: SLEEP IN BUILDING, BOTH
as semantic and phonetic, giving ‘shrine/
sacred room free from defilement’, being a HANDS OUT OF BED-COVER
place where in ancient times sick members
of the nobility slept; by extension, ‘bed-
慎1545 SHIN, tsutsushimu Seal ; traditional . Has 164 ‘heart, mind’,
L1 be discreet, refrain with 341 (‘truth’) as phonetic with
associated sense taken either as i] ‘draw in,
13 strokes tighten’, giving ‘rein in one’s feelings’ (Katō),
or ii] ‘be full, extend everywhere’, giving ‘be
SHINCHŌ prudence discreet’ (Ogawa). Mizukami notes several
KINSHIN good conduct proposed bronze equivalents. KJ1970:559;
tsutsushimibukai discreet OT1968:383; MS1995:v1:520-21.
Mnemonic: DISCREETLY REFRAIN FROM
SHOWING TRUE FEELINGS
458 The Remaining 1130 Characters
審1546 SHIN this is supported by Schuessler, who also notes
L1 judge, investigate a possible link. Ogawa takes the meaning as
‘separate and clarify matters covered over’.
15 strokes Gu interprets the graph (both 宷 and ) as
meaning ‘inquire into/examine closely inside a
SHINGI deliberation room’. The same Shuowen entry also notes the
FUSHIN doubt form with 215 (‘number; guard’) substituted
SHINPAN judgment, umpiring for , i.e. . Adoption of as the lower ele-
ment as an alternative to 宷 at the seal stage
Seal (宷) . Entry heading in Shuowen has may reflect influence of an earlier variant form.
宷, comprising 30 ‘roof, building’ over DJ2009:v1:95; MS1995:v2:1352-4; KJ1970:566;
215 (orig open hand holding grain or similar AS2007:458; OT1968:284; GY2008:727-8.
> ‘divide up, distinguish’), thus ‘clarify matters
deep inside a house’ (Katō). Katō considers Mnemonic: INVESTIGATE NUMBERS UNDER
here carries the nuance ‘deep inside’ through a
word-family connection with 342 ‘deep’, and COVER OF ROOF, THEN JUDGE
震1547 SHIN, furuu/eru Seal ; late graph (Shuowen). Has 3 ‘rain’
L2 shake, tremble (sometimes more broadly, ‘sky, weather’), with
15 strokes 1531 (originally clamshell) as phonetic with
associated sense ‘shake’, thus ‘weather that
JISHIN earthquake makes things shake’ (Mizukami says ‘thunder
miburui trembling body rumbles in heavy rainstorm’); sense then gen-
furuegoe trembling voice eralized to ‘shake, tremble’. MS1995:v2:1422-3;
OT1968:1086; SS1984:477.
Mnemonic: RAIN MAKES CLAM SHAKE AND
TREMBLE?!
薪1548 SHIN, takigi, maki firewood)’, with 53 ‘plant’ added to highlight
L1 firewood, kindling this sense – and extended sense ‘firewood’ –
when came to be used in loan usage for
16 strokes another word meaning ‘new’ (the two were
homophonous in early Chinese). DJ2009:v1:82;
SHINTAN fuel KJ1970:575-6; OT1968:872; AS2007:538-9.
takigigoya woodshed
makiwari woodchopping Mnemonic: USE NEWLY CHOPPED PLANTS
Seal ; late graph (Shuowen). Has 165 AS KINDLING
(‘new’) in its orig meaning ‘chop tree (for
刃1549 JIN, ha, yaiba to a pictograph represent (a word of) different
L1 blade, sword meaning, in this case, 198‘knife, sword’, plus
3 strokes to highlight‘blade’. The form occurs early
in Chinese calligraphic tradition (Northern Wei
HAKUJIN drawn sword onwards). Note that in many Chinese characters
hamono bladed object
RYŌba double blade means‘knife’rather than‘sword’. Also note that
the blade here is the inside edge, unlike the ka-
OBI ; seal ; traditional (Kangxi zidian) 刃/ tana. QX2000:183; MS1995:v1:122-3; OT1968:110;
. One of a small number of characters of the FC1974:v1:201; KZ2001:237-8/3671; MR2007:305.
‘indicative symbol’type in which stroke(s) added Mnemonic: SWORD WITH MARKED BLADE
The Remaining 1130 Characters 459
尽1550 JIN, tsukiru/kusu (‘embers’) as phonetic, but again with the
L1 use up, exhaust same associated sense and overall meaning
as explained above. A similar view is held by
6 strokes Tōdō, who takes 㶳 as phonetic with associ-
ated sense ‘empty’, and interprets as referring
JINRYOKU effort(s) to small bits of food left in a bowl after eating,
JINMIRAI for ever again giving ‘run out, use up’ as the overall
kokorozukushi kind efforts meaning. A further view, noted in Mizukami,
takes in the OBI form as phonetic with
OBI ; seal ; traditional . The OBI form associated meaning ‘small, small bits’, to give
has 159 ‘writing brush, brush’ (itself origi- ‘droplets of ink from writing brush all drip
nally [OBI] pictograph of hand holding brush) down into bowl’. The simplified form ap-
over 300 ‘bowl’. In one interpretation, is pears to be based on examples of written
taken as phonetic with associated sense ‘emp- cursively at the block script stage.KJ1970:566-
ty’, giving ‘wipe inside of bowl clean’ (Katō; 7; BK1957:108; OT1968:692; TA1965:780;
Karlgren is in agreement ). In his analysis, Katō MS1995:908-9,798-800; FC1977:716-7. We
also treats in this graph as incorporating suggest taking as person with back-pack
what later came to be written separately as (see 253, 895) and the two strokes as ‘two’.
1537 ‘writing brush hairs’, a view which is
shared in principle by Ogawa, who takes in Mnemonic: PERSON EXHAUSTED BY
the extended sense ‘clean with brush’, giving
‘empty bowl’, and by extension ‘run out, use CARRYING TWO BACK-PACKS
up’. At the seal stage, was modified to 㶳
迅1551 JIN, hayai Seal ; a late graph (Shuowen). Has ‘walk,
L1 fast, intense go, move’ 85, and 卂 (‘bird flying’ [Gu], or
‘falcon’ [Shirakawa]). Gu takes 卂 as semantic
6 strokes and phonetic, giving ‘rapid’ as an extended
sense from ‘bird flying’ (Ogawa is in agree-
JINSOKU rapidity ment). Shirakawa follows a different interpre-
JINRAI thunderclap tation and takes this element as phonetic with
FUNJIN great rage associated sense ‘rapid’, giving ‘move rapidly’
as the original sense. GY2008:340; SS1984:480;
OT1968:993. We suggest taking as ‘canopy’
and 35 as ‘ten’.
Mnemonic: MOVE FAST TO PUT UP TEN
CANOPIES – INTENSE WORK
甚1552 JIN, hanahada(shii) Bronze ; seal . The upper element in
L1 great(ly),extreme bronze is typically taken as 1139 (‘sweet’;
originally, depiction of something being
9 strokes tasted in the mouth). Bronze occurrences of
show some fluctuation in shape of the lower
JINDAI na immense part, leading to variation in interpretation.
JINROKU dunce Katō takes as 1893 (‘match/equal; counter
KŌJIN very glad for certain animals’; originally, depicted two
similar lengths/rolls of cloth next to each
other) in the extended sense ‘union of man
and woman’, combining with as phonetic
with associated sense ‘enjoy’, to give original
460 The Remaining 1130 Characters
overall meaning ‘enjoy union’, with ‘extreme’ element, the way of writing for which varied
treated as an extended sense based on the somewhat in bronze, came to be written in
associated sensation of extreme pleasure. a shape very close to , leading to it in fact
Ogawa, by contrast, takes the bronze form of being interpreted as in Shuowen. In the
modern form, the strokes of have been
very differently as depicting a pot on top joined to the lower element . KJ1970:208-
of a cooking stove, giving ‘cooking stove’, and 9; MS1995:v2:866-7,v1:160-61; OT1968:665;
regarding ‘extreme’ as a loan use. Alternatively GY2008:1157.
again, Gu takes the graph as ‘taste some-
thing in the mouth’ over what he considers to Mnemonic: SWEETLY MATCHED COUPLE
be a ladle, giving ‘ladle something good to eat
into the mouth’. At the seal stage, the lower GREATLY IN LOVE
陣1553 JIN as one (when the graph is written cursively),
L1 (army) camp, position the resultant shape is , and this was then
adopted in place of to clearly represent
10 strokes the word ‘battle array’. This view of evolv-
ing from through cursivization is also
JINTŌ lead, van (army) supported by Gu. Qiu also notes that because
JINCHI position vehicles played an important part in ancient
JINTSŪ labor pains warfare, there is a semantic connection also
in the substitution of 33 ‘vehicle’ in this
A late, post-Shuowen graph. Considered to graph in place of the phonetic 201 (‘east’).
be derived from 1732 ‘arrange; explain’, ‘(Military) position, camp’ are extended sens-
the original meaning of which is probably es. QX2000:327-8; GY2008:342-3; TA1965:757-
best taken as ‘evenly pile up mounds of earth’ 9; MS1995:v2:1396-8; FC1977:1082-3.
(Tōdō), and by extension ‘set out, display’. The
determinative when positioned on the left Mnemonic: VEHICLES AND EARTHEN
also in itself often indicates piles of earth, as
well as ‘mound’ and ‘hill’ (262). Qiu points out MOUNDS INDICATE ARMY CAMP
that if the two final strokes of are written
尋1554 JIN, tazuneru, hiro Chinese word concerned is written employ-
L1 inquire, seek, a ing the elements 2 ‘right’ (originally, ‘hand,
right hand’), plus 24 ‘left’ (originally, ‘left
fathom hand’), together with (‘writing brush hairs’,
see 115 and 517) as phonetic with associated
12 strokes sense ‘extend the arms’, giving overall mean-
ing ‘stretch out the arms’, and then ‘length
JINMON questioning span of outstretched arms’. When it came
JINJŌ commonplace to the clerical script, the element was
tazunedasu seek out already being omitted, thus resulting in .
MS1995:v1:396-7; DJ2009:v1:260; KJ1970:581;
OBI ; seal . The OBI form shows a person OT1968:288; SK1984:235; TA1965:789-93. We
with arms stretched out against a flat surface, suggest taking 彐 as one hand, as another
giving ‘stretch out the arms’; by extension, hand 920, as ‘opening’ 22, and 125 ‘work’.
the length represented when arms stretched
out’. The English word ‘fathom’ originally Mnemonic: INQUIRE ABOUT OPENING FOR
also derives from outstretched arms (later
standardized to six feet). (Tōdō includes in WORKING HANDS
word-family ‘get deep inside’, giving extended
sense ‘inquire’.) At the seal stage, the early
The Remaining 1130 Characters 461
腎1555 JIN Seal ; a late graph (Shuowen). Has /
L1 kidney 209 ‘flesh, meat; body’, and 臤 1237 (CO,‘pluck
out eye [as punishment]’) as phonetic. Associ-
13 strokes ated sense of 臤 here is regarded as unclear,
but possibly ‘remove’, giving ‘bodily part
JINSEKI kidney stone which removes (waste fluid)’. Shuowen ex-
KANJIN main, vital plains as being where (bodily) fluid is stored.
JINZŌ kidney OT1968:824; GY2008:611. We suggest using
須1556 SU, subeka(raku) 543 ‘minister, eye’, and 2003 ‘hand’.
L1 should, necessary
Mnemonic: MINISTER PUTS HAND TO HIS
15 strokes BODY – KIDNEY TROUBLE
SUMA Suma (place name) Bronze ; seal . Originally, pictograph
HISSU essential, compulsory of a man’s head/face 103 with wavy lines
EBISU god of wealth
here meaning whiskers of a beard, (see
吹1557 SUI, fuku also 115 and 517). Borrowed for its sound
L2 blow, exhale value as a convenient way to write another
homophonous or near-homophonous word
7 strokes in early Chinese meaning ‘must, should’. Mizu-
kami lists several proposed OBI equivalents.
KOSUI advocacy MS1995:v2:1442-3; GY2008:891; OT1968:1101;
fubuki* snowstorm WD1974:629-31.
fukitaosu blow down
Mnemonic: IT’S NECESSARY TO GROW
炊1558 SUI, taku WHISKERS ON YOUR FACE
L1 cook, boil
OBI ; seal . Has 22 ‘mouth’, and
8 strokes 496 ‘gap; lack’, the latter in its original core
meaning of ‘open mouth wide, yawn’, giving
SUIJI cooking ‘breathe out, breathe out suddenly’ (Ogawa
meshitaki cook, maid says ‘breathe out vigorously’); by extension,
JISUI self-catering ‘play wind instrument’. MS1995:v1:218-20;
KJ1970:578; OT1968:173.
Mnemonic: LACK MOUTH, BUT CAN STILL
BLOW AND EXHALE
Seal ; late graph (Shuowen). Has 8 ‘fire’,
and 496 (‘lack’) as abbrev of 1557 ‘blow’
as semantic and phonetic > ‘blow upon fire’ to
make bigger. As fire is important for cook-
ing, ‘cook’ evolved as extended meaning.
GY2008:704-5; KJ1970:577; OT1968:617.
Mnemonic: LACK FIRE BUT COOK
NONETHELESS!?
462 The Remaining 1130 Characters
帥1559 SUI associated sense of left-hand element is tak-
L1 commander en by Katō to be ‘wipe’, thus ‘cloth for wiping’,
i.e. ‘towel’; Ogawa also takes overall meaning
9 strokes as ‘towel’, but takes associated sense (for )
as ‘hang down’. However, another view sees
TŌSUI supreme command left-hand element in bronze form described
GENSUI field marshal above as indicating person holding in both
SHŌSUI commander hands an object taken as some sort of fabric
to present as gift, with ‘cloth’ added on
Bronze ; seal . Has 1232 ‘cloth’, and the right as a clarifying determinative (Gu).
left-hand element which at seal stage is The meaning ‘lead, command’ is a loan
(taken as pictograph of buttocks 370 or hill- usage of to write what was otherwise
ocks 262) as phonetic, but based on earlier sometimes written 767 (‘rate; command’).
bronze form Katō takes this to have initially KJ1970:525-6; OT1968:316; GY2008:156;
been not but a similar shape having verti- BK1957:136. Suggest taking as ‘hillocks’.
cal stroke on left with two down-facing claws
indicating barbs, thus ‘barbed cane/whip’, Mnemonic: COMMANDER CARRIES CLOTH
representing a word that was a near-homo-
phone of that represented by . Either way, BANNER UP HILL
粋1560 SUI, iki Seal ; late graph (Shuowen); traditional .
L1 pure, essence, ‘style’ Has 220 ‘rice’, and 564 (‘end; soldier’)
as phonetic with associated sense ‘pound,
10 strokes smash’, thus ‘rice well pounded and impurity-
free’; i.e. ‘pure’. The meaning ‘smart, stylish’
BUSUI inelegant is Japanese-only usage. The simplified form
SUIJIN man of taste
SUIKYŌ whim, caprice seems to have become popular in the
Northern Wei Dynasty (387-534). OT1968:761;
SS1984:484-5; FC1974:v2:1689. Suggest right-
hand as 13 ‘nine’ and 35 ‘ten’.
Mnemonic: NINETEEN GRAINS OF PURE RICE
衰1561 SUI, otoroeru Seal . The seal form has 444 ‘garment’,
L1 weaken, wane and a second element between the upper
and lower parts of to represent (interwo-
10 strokes ven) straw or similar pointed downwards,
giving ‘rain-cape, cape’. Shuowen defines as
SUIJAKU debility ‘rain-cape made from vegetation’. Gu alone
RŌSUI senility prefers to interpret as incorporating a hat also.
SEISUI vicissitudes Mizukami lists a proposed bronze equivalent.
MS1995:v2:1166-7; OT1968:902; GY2008:1104.
Suggest as pierced ‘hole’ 22.
Mnemonic: CLOTHING WEAKENED AFTER
HOLE PIERCED IN IT
The Remaining 1130 Characters 463
酔1562 SUI, you Seal ; late graph (Shuowen); traditional .
L1 drunk, dizzy Has 318 ‘wine’ (orig pictograph of wine
jar), and 564 ‘end, soldier’ as semantic and
11 strokes phonetic, thus ‘finish drinking all wine offered’.
By extension, ‘become intoxicated’; also, ‘feel
MASUI anesthesia sick’, ‘feel elated’. The form seems to be
yopparai drunkard based on cursivized forms circa Tang Dynasty
funayoi sea-sickness onwards. FC1974:v2:2285-6; OT1968:1026;
TA1965:694-5; GY2008:1791. Take right-hand
as 13 ‘nine’ and 35 ‘ten’.
Mnemonic: DRUNK AND DIZZY AFTER
NINETEEN JARS OF WINE
遂1563 SUI, togeru, tsui (ni) and phonetic, thus giving ‘(group of ) wild
L1 attain, finally boar push others aside and move forward’
(Katō). In another view, is taken as phonet-
12 strokes ic with associated sense ‘push forward’, thus
‘push and move forward’, hence ‘achieve, ac-
SUIKŌ attainment complish’ (Ogawa). It is difficult to determine
MISUI attempt(ed) whether the meaning ‘finally’ is an extended
shitogeru attain use from ‘achieve’, or a loan use of the graph.
OT1968:1006; KJ1970:578-9; WD1974:676.
Bronze ; seal ; traditional . Has /
85 ‘go, walk, move’ and 89/ 1807 ‘wild Mnemonic: FINALLY ATTAIN ONE’S GOAL OF
boar, wild pig’, plus 70 ‘eight’, in its original
sense ‘split’‘disperse’, taking as semantic MOVING EIGHT PIGS
睡1564 SUI, nemuru Seal ; a late graph (Shuowen). Has 76
L1 sleep ‘eye’ and 918 ‘suspend, hang, droop’. The
latter element is taken either as semantic and
13 strokes phonetic, giving ‘lower eyelids’, and by exten-
sion ‘sleep’ (Ogawa, Gu), or as just phonetic
SUIMIN sleep with associated sense ‘limp, flabby’, giving
JUKUSUI sound sleep ‘eyes get tired and go limp’, with ‘sleep’ likewise
GOSUI nap, siesta as the meaning by extension (Katō, Tōdō).
OT1968:701; GY2008:1584; KJ1970:577.
Mnemonic: DROOPY EYES LEAD TO SLEEP
穂1565 SUI, ho OBI ; seal form A ( ) ; seal form B ( ) ;
L1 ear/spear (of grain) traditional . The ancestral OBI form of this
graph exhibits some variation, the form given
15 strokes here has 2003 ‘hand’ with 198 ‘knife’
over 87 ‘grain plant’, interpreted as ‘cut
SUIJŌ spear shape grain; grain’ (Ma). At the seal stage, for this
inaho ear of rice graph Shuowen has – in seal form A – what
hosaki spearhead is considered to be a variant of the above,
464 The Remaining 1130 Characters
consisting in one view of 1739 ‘claw’, but is provisionally taken here as also being the
here, as sometimes, ‘hand’ over ‘grain plant’, associated sense of / . Occurs in the ab-
giving ‘pick/gather ears of grain’. In a diver- breviated form from the Sui Dynasty (581-
gent view, though, this is combined with 618AD) onwards. MR2007:364; OT1968:737;
not ‘hand/claw’ but (CO; an abbreviated DJ2009:v2:566; MS1995:v1:22-3,v2:964-5;
form of ‘blossoms hanging from tree/shrub’ KJ1970:579; FC1974:v2:1631. We suggest tak-
[originally a pictograph]; see Note below), ing the right-hand part as ‘ten’ 35, ‘fields’
possibly itself in abbreviated shape here, as 63 and ‘heart’ 164. Note: Mizukami notes
phonetic with associated sense ‘hang down’, that this CO graph may be an old form for
giving ‘ears of grain hang down’ (Katō). While 918 ‘hang down’.
the entry heading in Shuowen has seal form
A above ( ), it also notes the alternative Mnemonic: HEARTENED BY (SP)EARS ON
form with plus 1259 (traditional form
of ‘bless, favor’) as phonetic; ‘hang down’ GRAIN PLANTS IN TEN FIELDS
随1566 ZUI sense ‘follow, accompany’, thus ‘follow behind’
L1 follow (Katō, Ogawa). Tōdō takes the associated sense
as ‘hang down limp’, but still arrives at the same
12 strokes overall meaning (‘hang on, follow from behind’).
KJ1970:417-8; TA1965:544; OT1968:1007,824;
ZUIHITSU random notes BK1957:23. Take right-hand as 423 ‘have’, and
ZUIKŌIN attendant left as 262 ‘hills’.
ZUIBUN considerably
Mnemonic: HAVE FOLLOWERS AFTER
Seal ; late graph (Shuowen); traditional form:
. Has 85 ‘walk, go’, and (CO ‘shredded MOVING INTO THE HILLS
sacrificial meat’) as phonetic with associated
髄1567 ZUI which the phonetic element 隓 is replaced
L1 marrow by 遀 (CO of unclear status and meaning);
Ogawa takes associated sense of 遀 here
19 strokes differently from the associated sense of 隓
above, seeing it as ‘linked to inside’, thus overall
SHINZUI essence sense ‘centre of bone’. Examples of simpler
NŌZUI brain form date from Northern Wei Dynasty
KOTSUZUI bone marrow (387-534). FC1974:v2:2515; ZY2009:v4:1349;
GY2008:2017; OT1968:1133; KJ1970:417;
Seal ( ) ; traditional ( ) . What is seen as BK1957:23. Take 85 ‘move’ and 423 ‘have’,
plus 877 ‘bone’.
seal script predecessor of has 877 ‘bone’,
and 隓 (CO ‘destroy, dismantle’) as phonetic Mnemonic: WE HAVE MEATY MARROW IN
with associated sense ‘fat’, thus ‘fat inside bone’
OUR BONES SO WE CAN MOVE
(Katō). Later form , the traditional form,
was once seen as popular equivalent of in
枢1568 SŪ, toboso Seal ; late graph (Shuowen); traditional
L1 pivot, door . Has 73 ‘wood, tree’, and 282 (‘section,
8 strokes ward’) as phonetic with associated sense ‘hinge
pin, pivot’, giving ‘(wooden) pivot’, and by
SŪJIKU axis extension ‘main/vital point’. appears to be a
SŪYŌ importance late simplified form. KJ1970:504; TA1965:310;
CHŪSŪ center, pivot AS2007:471.
Mnemonic: PIVOT IS IMPORTANT SECTION
OF WOODEN DOOR
The Remaining 1130 Characters 465
崇1569 SŪ, agameru Seal ; a late graph (Shuowen). Has 26
L1 lofty, noble, revere ‘mountain’, and 899 (‘religion’) as phonetic
with associated sense taken in one view as
11 strokes ‘come together, gather’ or ‘pile up’, giving
‘mountains come together and pile up’ (Katō).
SŪHAI worship Alternatively, here is taken by Ogawa as
SŪKŌ na sublime, lofty meaning ‘admired’, giving ‘most admired high
SŪKEI reverence mountain’. Either way, by extension ‘look up
high to, revere’. KJ1970:644; OT1968:305;
AS2007:363.
Mnemonic: RELIGIOUSLY REVERE LOFTY
MOUNTAIN
据1570 sueru/waru, KYO stiff’ (Ogawa), or ii] ‘injury’, to give – in similar
L1 set, (set in) place, work vein – ‘hand injury’ (Shirakawa) (Gu says ‘hand
disease’). By contrast, Katō sees the main
11 strokes meaning (in Japanese only) as ‘hands being
busy in a work context’, leading to a variety
sueoku leave as is of extended meanings, such as ‘place down’,
misueru gaze, stare ‘set’, and ‘work’. In all cases, hands and their
KIKKYO hard work activities are core. OT1968:417; SS1984:181;
GY2008:1224; KJ1985:263.
Seal ; a late graph (Shuowen). Consists of
/ 64 ‘hand’, with 678 (‘reside, be’) as Mnemonic: HAND IS IN SET PLACE
phonetic with associated sense taken either
as i] ‘bent’, giving ‘hand shrinks/becomes
杉1571 sugi A late, post-Shuowen graph. Has 73 ‘tree,
L1 cedar, cryptomeria wood’, and 115 (‘writing brush hairs’) as
phonetic with associated sense taken as
7 strokes ‘needle’, giving ‘tree with needle-like leaves’,
and hence ‘cedar’ (Ogawa). Tōdō takes the
sugiaya herringbone associated sense as ‘many (needle-like leaves)
sugigaki cedar hedge gathered together’, and so ‘cedar’, but this
suginamiki cedar avenue interpretation seems to be more speculative.
OT1968:490; TA1965:811-14.
Mnemonic: CEDAR IS TREE WITH HAIR-LIKE
LEAVES
裾1572 suso, KYO Seal ; a late graph (Shuowen). Has /
L1 skirt, hem, cuff 444 ‘garment’, and 678 (‘be, reside’) as pho-
netic with associated sense taken in one view
13 strokes as ‘cover what is beneath’, giving ‘(part of )
garment which covers from outside’ (Tōdō);
yamasuso foot of mountain as a hem or cuff presumably involves folding
susoMOYŌ design on skirt the edge of fabric on the outside and fixing
susoura hem lining it onto the underside. This analysis therefore
466 The Remaining 1130 Characters
appears to already provide the meaning in Japan it is very much associated with
‘hem, cuff’, though Tōdō takes this as a later, females. Nor does the Chinese appear to en-
restricted meaning. In support of taking ‘hem, compass the extended concept of the ‘hem’
cuff’ as a later sense, on the other hand, is of a mountain. DJ2009:v2:677; TA1965:385;
the Shuowen entry for , which defines it as GY2008:1668. As one mnemonic we suggest
‘front part of a garment’. In line with this, the taking as 121 ‘old’ and 256 ‘corpse’.
treatment by Gu also favors taking ‘front part
of a garment’ as the original meaning, and Mnemonic: AN OLD CORPSE IS STILL
several other meanings such as ‘back of a gar- CLOTHED WITH A SKIRT
ment’ as extended senses. In Chinese only it
can have a meaning of ‘robe’, which presum- Or: WHERE I RESIDE, WE WEAR CLOTHES
ably could also be worn by males, whereas FROM SKIRT TO CUFF
瀬1573 se current’ (Katō, Tōdō), or ii] ‘rub’, giving ‘strong
L1 shallows, rapids current which rushes over rocks’ (Ogawa). In
early China it was also applied to the name
19 strokes of a specific river in Kuangxi. KJ1970:890-91;
TA1965:551; OT1968:613. For the middle and
asase shallows right-hand elements we suggest taking as
seto strait, channel 561 ‘parcel’ and 103 ‘head’.
setomono porcelain
Mnemonic: PUT PARCEL ON YOUR HEAD
Seal ; traditional . This graph consists WHEN CROSSING SHALLOWS
of / 42 water’, and (traditional form
of 2067 ‘request, rely’) as phonetic with Or: RELY ON WATER HAVING SHALLOWS
associated sense taken either as i] ‘push
forward/affect violently’, giving ‘violent rapid
是1574 ZE, kore element in the seal form of , is written with
L1 proper, this what at that stage was the similar-shaped
9 strokes ‘leg, foot’ (see Note below), which then
featured increasingly in block script. Senses
ZESEI correction such as ‘correct; this’ are loan uses. Note: a
korera these quite widely-held view is that , , and
ZEHI by all means; right and wrong 54 (‘leg’) were originally one and the same
graph (Mizukami, Katō, Yamada). The OBI
Bronze ; seal . Shuowen interprets and bronze shapes do provide some support
this graph as consisting of 66 ‘sun, day’ for this view, more particularly in the case of
over 43 ‘correct’, but the bronze forms
are supportive of a different interpreta- and . At the seal stage, the similarity in
tion, one which takes the upper element shape between and is close enough to
as ‘ladle, spoon’; is considered to be the mean confusion between the two was likely
original way of writing ‘ladle, spoon’ (CO). to occur at times. YK1976:296-7; KJ1970:444;
The shape of the lower element in bronze MS1995:v1:702-3,v2:884-6,1260-62; SK1984:
exhibits some variation, in several cases 370-71; FC1974:v1:1046-7; DJ2009:v1:167,176.
rather resembling 143 ‘stop’, but another Suggest taking upper element as ‘sun’ and
occurrence suggests it probably represents lower element as ‘not quite correct’, being
a triple hook for hanging utensils such as la- rather than .
dles on (Yamada). At the clerical script stage
we find one or two examples wherein the Mnemonic: SUN IS NOT QUITE
lower element , which stands as the lower
CORRECT – THIS SHOULD BE PROPER
The Remaining 1130 Characters 467
井1575 SEI, SHŌ, i then this reverted to in block script. ,
L1 a well originally just a variant of ‘well’, and still
noted as such in Kangxi zidian, has evolved
4 strokes in more recent times as a separate graph
used in Japanese with the reading donburi, a
YUSEI oil well word originally meaning ‘ceramic bowl’, but
TENJŌ ceiling now commonly used to refer to food served
ido well in such a bowl, typically a bowl of rice with
a topping such as chicken and egg, or eel.
OBI ; seal . Pictograph representing a KJ1970:596; DJ2009:v2:417; OT1968:35,24;
bird’s eye view of the frame around a well. ZY2009:v1:6; SK1984:32-3; FC1974:v1:51-2.
Some bronze occurrences, and the seal form,
have the modified shape (see 1812), which Mnemonic: WELL HAS SQUARE FRAME
was commonly used in clerical script, but
姓1576 SEI, SHŌ adopted by men also, but the element
L2 surname remained. In Japan up until the Meiji Period
(1868–1912) commoners – particularly farm-
8 strokes ers/peasants – generally did not use a family
name, despite the old term hyakushō for
SEIMEI surname farmers, which somewhat confusingly means
KAISEI name change literally a ‘hundred family names’. This term
HYAKUSHŌ farmer derives from ancient times in which it was
applied to a restricted class of elite farmers of
OBI ; seal . Consists of 37 ‘woman’, imperial land, but was subsequently broad-
with 44 ‘give birth, be born’ taken either as ened to apply to farmers/peasants in general,
i] semantic and phonetic, or ii] phonetic only particularly in the Edo Period (1600-1868).
(on the basis that originally referred only KJ1970:596-7; OT1968:256; MS1995:v1:322-3.
to the emergence of plants, not the birth of
humans [Katō]), but either way giving ‘same Mnemonic: WOMAN GIVEN SURNAME UPON
blood line’. In ancient China it was only wom-
en who used a family or clan name, hence BIRTH
the determinative; later, such a name was
征1577 SEI in writing the element 131’go/walk along
L1 conquer, go afar a road’ (abbreviated form of [originally,
‘crossroads’]) was added, resulting in .
8 strokes Note: together with an upward-facing foot
combine to give ‘walk step-by-step along
SEIFUKU subjugation a road’ (full way of writing / 85). As both
ENSEI expedition
SEII pacifying barbarians and / have much the same meaning,
early graphs sometimes fluctuate between
OBI ; seal . Originally written as just the two. For this reason, in pre-modern texts
43 (‘correct, proper’), the OBI form of which variants such as, for instance, written with
has a foot pointed upwards towards an ele-
ment shaped like 22 (‘mouth; entrance; / as determinative instead of are
hole’,) which Qiu takes as representing a des- sometimes encountered. QX2000:191-2,330;
tination. Since there were two words in early MS1995:v2:1286-7,v1:702-3; AS2007:612.
Chinese (Late Han) meaning ‘correct’ and
‘march against’ respectively and these were Mnemonic: GO PROPERLY ON THE ROAD TO
homophones, to clearly distinguish the latter
CONQUER AFAR
468 The Remaining 1130 Characters
斉1578 SEI, hitoshii Bronze equivalents vary, and some are more
L1 equal, similar elaborate in shape, resulting in a slightly dif-
ferent seal form. Some clerical script occur-
8 strokes rences show that the intricate-looking middle
part of the block script is a regularization in
ISSEI all together shape of the three ears of grain seen in seal
SEIITSU equality form and earlier. SK1984:816; OT1968:1171;
SEISHŌ singing in unison MS1995:v2:1524-5; TA1965:770-72. Suggest
as ‘text’ 72 and as weird ‘moon’ 18.
OBI ; seal ; traditional . OBI form shows
plants standing together with ears of grain, to Mnemonic: TEXTS ABOUT WEIRD MOON ARE
give ‘make a set, be equal’ as extended senses.
ALL VERY SIMILAR
牲1579 SEI thus ‘sheep cleansed for sacrifice’ (Mizukami);
L1 sacrifice Tōdō, on the other hand, takes as seman-
tic in function, meaning ‘live’, which when
9 strokes combined with as determinative (bronze
forms onwards) gives ‘live bull for sacrifice’.
GISEITEKI self-sacrificing Gu and Ogawa treat as both semantic and
GISEISHA victim phonetic, thus ‘live bull cleansed/prepared for
ikenie* live sacrifice sacrifice’. ‘Sacrifice’, therefore, is the general-
ized meaning. MS1995:v2:832-4; TA1965:492;
OBI ; bronze seal . OBI form has as GY2008:871; OT1968:637.
determinative not 108 ‘ox, cow’ but 426
‘sheep’, plus 44 ‘live, birth’, taken in one Mnemonic: SACRIFICE OF LIVE COW
view as phonetic with associated sense ‘pure’,
凄1580 SEI, sugoi/mu, susamajii Very late graph (Yupian). Has 401 ‘ice’ and
L1 horrible, amazing, 708 (‘wife’) as phonetic with associated
fantastic sense ‘cold’, thus original meaning ‘cold ice’.
Meanings such as ‘terrible, terrific’ and ‘hor-
10 strokes rible’ are perhaps loan usages. Note that su-
goi, like the English ‘terrific’ and the French
monosugoi terrific ‘terrible’, can express amazement, including
SEISAN na gruesome in a positive sense, such as ‘great, fantastic’.
sugoMONKU threats SS1984:497; AS2007:419.
Mnemonic: ICY WIFE IS AMAZINGLY
HORRIBLE, YET FANTASTIC!
逝1581 SEI, yuku, iku Seal ; late graph (Shuowen). Has 85 ‘move’,
L1 die, pass away and 551 (‘break’) as phonetic with associated
sense ‘remove’ > ‘remove by going’ > ‘pass away,
10 strokes die’. GY2008:1027; AS2007:183.
SEIKYO death Mnemonic: MOVEMENT BREAKS DOWN
KYŪSEI sudden death THROUGH DEATH
CHŌSEI death
The Remaining 1130 Characters 469
婿1582 SEI, muko 37 ‘woman’ as alternative form, suggesting
L1 son-in-law was probably original form. (CO ‘assist’)
is phonetic with associated sense ‘intelligent’,
12 strokes thus – for – ‘intelligent/fine male’, or – for
– ‘’intelligent/fine male for a woman’;
JOSEI son-in-law later ‘son-in-law’. DJ2009:v1:32; KJ1970:964;
hanamuko bridegroom OT1968:260. Use ‘leg’ 1574, and ‘body’
mukoiri move to wife’s family 209.
Seal ( ) ; late graph (Shuowen). Main entry Mnemonic: SON-IN-LAW HAS LEGS AND
heading in Shuowen has 521 ‘male’ as
determinative, but it notes graph written with BODY OF A WOMAN!
誓1583 SEI, chikau This is not convincing, for any agreement
L1 pledge, vow, oath between two parties surely uses language. A
more plausible explanation for is that the
14 strokes early Chinese word for ‘agreement, oath’ was
at first written as just , but later to disam-
SEIYAKU pledge biguate in writing this word from another – a
SENSEI oath near-homophone meaning ‘bend, break’ – at
chikaigoto pledge first (bronze) 22 (‘mouth; speak’) was added,
but later changed to . Mizukami takes
Bronze ; seal . Has 118 ‘words; speak’, as combining with as phonetic with as-
and 551 ‘break’ taken in one view (Katō) as sociated sense ‘promise, agree’ or ‘clearly state’,
semantic and phonetic. When an agreement giving ‘make promise in words’. KJ1970:613;
was made in ancient times, a wooden tablet or AS2007:608,468; MS1995:v2:1198-9;
similar was broken in two, each party keeping OT1968:931.
half. Katō notes there is one example in bronze
of the Chinese word for ‘oath, make an oath’ Mnemonic: BROKEN WORD IS ACTUALLY A
written just as , and he explains that ‘for or-
dinary agreements a wooden tally was broken, PLEDGE!?
but meant making agreement with words’.
請1584 SEI, SHIN, kou, ukeru green”) as phonetic with associated sense
L1 request, undertake taken either as i] ‘clear’, thus ‘clear words’
(noted in Mizukami), or ii] ‘see’, giving orig
15 strokes sense ‘have audience (with one’s lord)’, and
by extension ‘ask for’ (Ogawa). ‘Undertake’
SEIKYŪ request appears to be an associated meaning, as in
FUSHIN construction the English ‘bid, tender’. MS1995:v2:1202-3;
ukeoiNIN contractor OT1968:934.
Bronze ; seal ; traditional form has Mnemonic: EXPRESS REQUEST IN BLUE
right-hand . Has 118 ‘words; speak’,
and (traditional form of 45 “blue/ WORDS!
醒1585 SEI, sameru/masu Seal ; late graph (later version of Shuowen).
L1 sober up, wake up Has 318 ‘wine’ (depicting wine jar), and
171 (‘star’) as phonetic with associated sense
16 strokes ‘clear, become clear’, giving ‘sober up, wake up’.
OT1968:1028; AS2007:432; SS1984:501.
yoizame sobering up
KAKUSEI awakening Mnemonic: SEE STARS AFTER DRINKING WINE
KEISEI warning, rousing
– NEED TO SOBER UP
470 The Remaining 1130 Characters
斥1586 SEKI, shirizokeru away a house/building’ (Ogawa). Alterna-
L1 repel, reject tively, taken as 1233 ‘ax’ with added as a
marker to indicate ‘cut, notch’, giving original
5 strokes meaning ‘cut and split with ax’ (Tōdō). As Gu
points out, though, does appear to have
HAISEKI boycott evolved through changes in shape from
SEKKŌ patrol, scout, spy through an intermediate stage such as 厈, a
SEKIRYOKU repulsion shape from which it was a relatively small step
to . Examples of 厈 can be found at the cleri-
Seal . The original way of writing this graph cal script stage. OT1968:450; TA1965:353-4;
is generally taken as , which consists of GY2008:177; SK1984:357-8. Suggest taking the
127 ‘building, house’, and 屰 675 (‘adverse’; short downstroke as indicating ‘down’.
originally, showing person upside-down) as
phonetic with associated sense taken in one Mnemonic: REPELLED BY AX COMING DOWN
view as ‘strike, repel’, giving ‘remove/clear
析1587 SEKI OBI : seal . Consists of 73 ‘tree, wood’,
L1 divide, analyze with 1233 ‘ax’, giving ‘cut/fell tree with ax’;
Mizukami takes to mean ‘cut up small’. Even if
8 strokes it originally meant ‘fell a tree’, to serve a useful
purpose a tree needs to be cut up, so ‘divide up’
BUNSEKI analysis stands as an extended sense, and from there
KAISEKI analysis a further extension to ‘analyze’. MR2007:339;
SEKISHUTSU eduction MS1995:v1:652-3; OT1968:494.
Mnemonic: ANALYSE TREE BY CHOPPING
AND DIVIDING WITH AN AX
脊1588 SEKI, se Seal . Has / 209 ‘flesh, meat; body’ under
L1 backbone, height , the latter element depicting the spine/
10 strokes backbone and four vertebrae. ‘Height, stature’
appears to be Japanese-only usage. SS1984:
SEKICHŪ spinal column 506; GY2008:1119; OT1968:821. Take as
SEKIZUI spinal cord ‘person’ 41, body, and four vertebrae.
setake height, stature
Mnemonic: PERSON’S BODY HEIGHT
COMPRISES MANY VERTEBRAE
隻1589 SEKI OBI ; seal . Has 324 ‘short-tailed bird,
L1 one of pair, ship bird’, and 2003 ‘hand’, giving ‘catch a bird’.
‘One of a pair’ also evolved as a meaning for .
counter There is another graph ‘catch/have pair of
birds’ (traditional form of 1627 ‘pair, both’),
10 strokes which stands in contrast to . is a later
graph (seal form onwards). The use of as
SEKISHU one arm a counter for ships is perhaps best seen as a
ISSEKI one ship/boat loan usage. MS1995:v2:1406-7; GY2008:160;
ISSEKIGAN sharp eye SS1984:506.
Mnemonic: ONLY ONE BIRD IN THE
HAND – BETTER OFF COUNTING BOATS!
The Remaining 1130 Characters 471
惜1590 SEKI, oshii/shimu either as i] ‘painful, stab’, giving ‘painful heart’
L1 regret, reluctant (Katō, Gu), or ii] ‘make smaller’, giving ‘make the
heart smaller, feel regret’ (Ogawa). It is possible
11 strokes that may also play a semantic role, namely
‘past’, for regret is usually felt in relation to
TSŪSEKI deep regret an event that has already occurred, or if one
oshiGE regret is reluctant to commit an act that has yet to
SEKIBETSU parting regrets occur but one that might later cause regret.
GY2008:1327; KJ1970:616; OT1968:376.
Seal ; a late graph (Shuowen). Has 164
‘heart, mind, feelings’, and 346 (‘olden times, Mnemonic: FEELINGS FOR THE PAST ARE
past’) as phonetic with associated sense taken
FULL OF REGRET
戚1591 SEKI they are of relevance in explaining the different
L1 relatives, sadness, stages of its graphic evolution. ‘Be in distress’
‘sadness’, and ‘relative, kin’ are considered to
distress be loan usages. Note: analyses of the original
meaning of 尗 vary. Gu takes it to denote dig-
11 strokes ging up a root vegetable with a pointed imple-
ment, reflecting in broad terms the definition
INSEKI in-laws in Shuowen as ‘bean plant growing’. In contrast,
ENSEKI distant relative Mizukami takes to represent a type of halberd;
SHINSEKI relatives Shirakawa interprets it as depicting the top
part of a halberd with light reflected from
Bronze ; seal . The bronze form has 545 the blade. In Chinese 尗 is interchangeable
‘halberd’, while the seal form has ‘large- with 1466 (‘uncle’, q.v.) which has a main
bladed halberd’, changing predominantly to meaning of ‘uncle’ (and in the Chinese also a
‘(type of ) halberd’ in block script, combining lesser meaning ‘gather’). FC1974:v1:892,902;
with 尗 (see Note below ) as phonetic with as- DJ2009:v2:583; MS1995:v1:532531-3;
sociated sense ‘small’, giving ‘small-handled hal- GY2008:1208; OT1968:395; SS1984:506-7.
berd’. Since , , and all represent types of
halberd, the modest differences in shape and Mnemonic: REPLACE HAND OF DISTRESSED
nuances of meaning inherent in these graphs
are not significant in explaining the original RELATIVE (UNCLE ) WITH HALBERD
meaning of the compound graph , though
跡1592 SEKI, ato extension ‘walk’, with (NJK, originally ‘armpit’,
L1 trace, remains now means ‘also’) as phonetic with associated
sense ‘continue’, giving ‘footprints which con-
13 strokes tinue’, and by extension ‘remains’ (Ogawa). Al-
ternatively, in analyzing , Mizukami takes the
TSUISEKI pursuit associated sense of as ‘accumulate’, to give
ashiato footprint the original overall meaning ‘accumulated foot-
ISEKI ruins prints’ (for ), which likewise gives ’remains,
traces’ as an extended sense. DJ2009:v1:140;
Seal ( ) ; late graph (Shuowen). The entry ZY2009:v4:1313; MS1995:v2:1288-89;
heading for (NJK; ‘place where people walk’ > OT1968:972. We suggest taking the right-hand
‘marks left by people walking’, i.e. ‘footprints’) in element as ‘partly red’ 48.
Shuowen has (NJK, also ‘footprint’) as being
an alternative form. The current graph 1592, Mnemonic: THE REMAINS ARE A PARTLY
considered (Kangxi zidian) to be a variant de-
rived from , consists of 54 ‘foot, leg’, and by RED FOOT
472 The Remaining 1130 Characters
籍1593 SEKI meaning is ‘written texts’, originally on bamboo
L1 register strips bound together. Note: the OBI form of
20 strokes is analysed as being either a pictograph of a
farmer plowing a field, or 699 (‘plow’, based
KOSEKI family register on pictograph), with 346 (olden times, past’),
SHOSEKI publications the latter element itself either as onomatopoeic
KOKUSEKI nationality for the sound of a plough as it digs up the soil,
or as phonetic with associated sense ‘pile up’
Seal ; a late graph (Shuowen). Has 58 (MS1995:v2:1054-6). TA1965:364-8; OT1968:759;
‘bamboo’, combining with (CO, ‘plow a field’; SS1984:510; KJ1970:616. We suggest taking the
see Note below) with associated sense taken modern form as ‘bamboo’ 58, ‘the past’
either as i] ’pile up, accumulate, put together’ 346, and multi-branched ‘tree’ / 73.
(Ogawa, Tōdō, Shirakawa), giving ‘bamboo
(writing) strips bound together with leather’, or Mnemonic: REGISTER OF BAMBOO AND
ii] ‘written texts’ (Katō); either way, the resultant
MULTI-BRANCHED TREES FROM PAST
拙1594 SETSU, mazui, tsutanai Seal ; a late graph (Shuowen). Has 34 ‘hand’,
L1 clumsy, poor and 36 (‘emerge, put out’) as phonetic with
associated sense taken either as i] ‘collapse, hol-
8 strokes low’ (Ogawa, Tōdō), or ii] ‘short, inferior’ (Katō),
either way giving ‘actions with the hand are
SESSHA I, me (humble) inferior’, i.e. ‘clumsy’. OT1968:407; TA1965:676;
SETSURETSU na clumsy KJ1970:304-5.
SESSOKU rough-and-ready
Mnemonic: PUT OUT A CLUMSY HAND
窃1595 SETSU, nusumu, hisoka meaning as ‘bore into cave/hole and steal’. A
L1 steal, stealth further variation is offered by Qiu, who is sup-
portive of taking as ‘rat makes a hole to bite
9 strokes things and steal rice’. By extension, ‘plunder;
furtively’. The cumbersome traditional form
SETTŌ theft (22 strokes) was already dropped in favor of
HYŌSETSU plagiarism the much simpler , in the first Jōyō Kanji List
SESSHU theft promulgated in 1923. Note: the meaning of is
interpreted differently as ‘mythical creature with
Seal ; a late graph (Shuowen); traditional . large head and tail’ (Mizukami), or ‘(type of )
A difficult graph and analyses are diverse. The insect’ (Gu, Shirakawa), while the view referred
traditional form corresponds to the seal ver- to by Qiu appears to take as ‘rat’. KJ1970:619-
sion above. Another seal form, listed by Katō, 20; OT1968:741; GY2008:948; SS1984:513;
consists alternatively of’ 860 ‘hole’, over , QX2000:230; MS1995:v2:960-61; KZ2007:1914.
which appears to be a reinforcement of ‘hole, We suggest taking the modern form as ‘hole’ (if
cave, cavity’, both these being over 220 somewhat flattened) 860 and ‘cut’ 173,
‘rice’, with overall meaning ‘rice stored in cave/ and in accord with the probable item stolen,
hole’. This combines with (see Note below), namely 220 ‘rice’.
which is taken in one view as phonetic with
associated sense ‘rob, plunder’, to give ‘plunder Mnemonic: STEALTHILY CUT HOLE TO STEAL
rice stored in cave’. Gu, alternatively, takes it as
semantic and phonetic, interpreting the overall RICE
The Remaining 1130 Characters 473
摂1596 SETSU hold up’ (Katō). ‘Take control’ is considered to
L1 take, act as proxy be an extended sense (Katō, Ogawa); and as
Katō suggests, ‘act in place of’ is probably a
13 strokes loan use. Use of the lower right-hand ele-
ment of four strokes in is not uncommon
SESSHU intake as a convenient reduplicating device used for
SESSHŌ regency/regent abbreviation in popular forms in pre-modern
SESSEI health care Japanese texts. (see, for example, 1463)
OT1968:425; TA1965:800; KJ1970:623. We sug-
Seal ; a late graph (Shuowen); traditional gest taking the bottom right element as
. Has 34 ‘hand’, and (CO, ‘whisper’, duplication, here specifically four.
based on reduplication of 31 ‘ear’) as pho- Mnemonic: FOUR HANDS AND FOUR
netic with associated sense taken as either i]
‘bring together, collect’, giving ‘bring together, EARS – WHO’S ACTING AS PROXY?
collect’ (Ogawa, Tōdō), or ii] ‘lift up’, giving ‘lift/
仙1597 SEN variant of , reflecting the practice of some
L1 hermit, wizard individuals of going up into the mountains
( 26) to live and seek immortality (Gu).
5 strokes There are strong connections here with early
stages of the Chinese philosophy or reli-
SENNIN hermit, wizard gion called Daoism. Note: another seal form
SHUSEN hard drinker includes two raised hands lifting something
SUISEN narcissus giving ‘lift up, lift up and move elsewhere’
(Mizukami, Shirakawa). Shirakawa takes the
Seal form A (僊) ; seal form B ( ) . Seal object being raised up specifically as a corpse.
form A consists of 41 ‘person’, combining DJ2009:v2:663; GY2008:173; MS1995:v1:464-5;
with 䙴 (see Note below) ‘raise up, move’; SS1984:515,520-21.
the explanation in Shuowen notes a con-
nection with living a long time. Seal form Mnemonic: PERSON ON HILL IS A HERMIT
B ( ), defined in Shuowen as ‘person in the
mountains’, is considered to be a late, popular AND WIZARD
占1598 SEN, uranai/u, shimeru see also 96), with 22 ‘mouth’, here
L2 divine, occupy ‘speak’, giving ‘carry out divination and an-
nounce (outcome), carry out divination and
5 strokes inquire (into outcome)’. Alternatively, Shi-
rakawa takes as not ‘mouth; speak’, but as
DOKUSEN monopoly depicting a receptacle for prayer texts while
uranaiSHA diviner carrying out the divination; this, however,
shimeta! Good! Great! is very much a minority interpretation. ‘Oc-
cupy’ is a borrowed meaning. OT1968:144;
OBI form: ; seal form: . Has ‘carry out QX2000:203; MR2007:283; MS1995:v1:172-4.
divination’ (originally, represents cracks on a
flat surface such as a turtle shell or scapula Mnemonic: OCCUPIED AS A DIVINER, ONE
[shoulder blade, here of cattle or similar]
used in Shang Dynasty divination process: GETS TO SPEAK ABOUT CRACKS
474 The Remaining 1130 Characters
扇1599 SEN, ōgi, aogu open and close, in much the same way as
L1 fan wings of a bird or insect move up and down
in flight. By extension, on the basis of the back
10 strokes and forth motion, ‘fan’. Alternatively, taken as
SENSU (folding) fan combining with as an abbreviation of
SENPŪKI electric fan , NJK, another graph also meaning ‘wings’
ōgigata fan-shaped (Katō; same overall meaning as in the preced-
ing view); this latter analysis follows that put
Seal ; late graph (Shuowen). Analyses differ forward in Shuowen. OT1968:399; TA1965:539;
in a minor way. In one view (Ogawa, Tōdō), KJ1970:627.
consists of 120 ‘gate, door’ and 82 ‘wings’
to signify the leaves of a gate or door which Mnemonic: WINGS OF A DOOR ACT AS FAN
栓1600 SEN A late, post-Shuowen graph. Defined in Yupian
L1 stopper; plug; tap as ‘wooden peg’. Has 73 ‘wood, tree’, and
347 ‘completely’ (in Tōdō’s word-family ‘make
10 strokes complete’), giving ‘piece of wood to make com-
plete’, and hence ‘stopper, bung’ etc. In Japa-
SENnuki corkscrew nese usage only, also refers to a type of tall tree
KYŪSUISEN water tap grown in Hokkaido. TA1965:574-5; OT1968:505;
SHŌKASEN hydrant GY2008:1006-7.
Mnemonic: WOODEN STOPPER COMPLETELY
PLUGS THE TAP
旋1601 SEN The nuance ‘return’ is thought to derive from
L1 rotate, turn flag fluttering on a pole and in rapid movement
going back to its original position. Katō notes
11 strokes that one OBI occurrence has 131 ‘road; go’ as
an additional element, and so takes the original
SENKAI rotation meaning slightly differently as ‘return along
SENBAN lathe the road one has travelled’. MS1995:v1:600-
SHŪSEN mediation 04,v2:884-6; OT1968:676; KJ1970:101-2.
OBI ; seal . Has 1574 ‘leg’, and 353 Mnemonic: FLUTTERING FLAG CAUSES LEGS
(‘streamer’, pictograph of flag fluttering on
pole) as phonetic with associated sense ‘go TO TURN AROUND
round’, giving ‘return by making legs go round’.
煎1602 SEN, iru Seal ; late graph (Shuowen). Has 8
L1 broil, roast, ‘fire’, and 177 (‘before, front’) as phonetic
with associated sense taken in one view as
boil, infuse, decoct ‘make complete’, giving ‘make complete with
fire, roast, toast’ (Ogawa, Tōdō). Gu, though,
13 strokes takes the original sense as to cook by heating
with liquid added, probably on the basis of
煎 SENBEI (rice-)cracker later commentary on Shuowen. OT1968:624;
煎 SENCHA green tea TA1965:569-72; DJ2009:v3:809; GY2008:1647.
煎 iritamago scrambled egg
Mnemonic: YOU CAN’T BOIL OR ROAST
BEFORE LIGHTING A FIRE
The Remaining 1130 Characters 475
羨1603 SEN, urayamu/mashii giving ‘see something delicious and drool’.
L1 envy, enviable, Ogawa proposes taking ‘feel envy/jealousy’
as an extended sense. Note: 㳄 consists of
envious 42 ‘water, liquid’, and 496 (‘lack’; originally,
pictograph of person kneeling with mouth
13 strokes open) as semantic and phonetic, giving
‘saliva; drool’. Note also that 1603 has both
SENBŌ envy aspects, envious and enviable. TA1965:533;
urayamashii enviable OT1968:800; MS1995:v2:736-7.
urayamu be envious, envy
Mnemonic: ENVIOUS SHEEP LACKS
Seal ; late graph (Shuowen). Has 426
WATER – NOT EXACTLY ENVIABLE
‘sheep’, here in the extended sense ‘good to
eat’, and 㳄 (CO ‘saliva, drool’, see Note below),
腺1604 SEN The reading SEN is therefore a pseudo-on
L1 gland
reading, based by analogy on that of 926
13 strokes SEN (‘spring’). The graph comprises 209
‘flesh, meat; body’, with as semantic and
SENNETSU glandular fever phonetic, interpreted either as ‘bodily organ
RUISEN tear gland
HENTŌSEN the tonsils which secretes liquid’ (Ogawa,Gu), or ‘bod-
ily organ which has line shape’ (Shirakawa).
A very late graph; belongs to the kokuji cat- OT1968:826; GY2008:1627; SS1984:523.
egory (graph devised in Japan based on the
formational principles of Chinese characters). Mnemonic: GLAND IN BODY EXUDES LIQUID
LIKE A SPRING
詮1605 SEN Seal ; a late graph (Shuowen). Has 118
L1 clarity, discuss, select, ‘words; speak’, and 347 ‘complete’ as
semantic and phonetic, giving ‘explain/set
reason out in detail’. OT1968:929; TA1965:574-5;
GY2008:737.
13 strokes
Mnemonic: WORDY DISCUSSION BUT WITH
SENSAKU search, inquiry
SENGI discussion, inquiry COMPLETE CLARITY
SHOSEN after all
践1606 SEN, fumu netic with associated sense taken either as i]
L1 step, act ‘arrange’, giving ‘put one’s feet where others
have trodden’ (Ogawa), or ii] ‘accumulate,
13 strokes pile up’, giving ‘put one foot after another’
(Shirakawa). Either way, ‘tread, step’ is the
JISSEN practice resultant meaning; ‘take action’ appears to be
JISSENTEKI practical an extended sense. QX2000:258; OT1968:972;
SENSO accession TA1965:569-72; SS1984:523.
Seal ; a late graph (Shuowen); traditional Mnemonic: FOOT STEPS ON TWO HALBERDS,
form: . Has 54 ‘foot, leg’, and 545
(‘fight, cut to pieces’; the traditional form LEADING TO ACTION
depicts two opposing halberds, q.v.) as pho-
476 The Remaining 1130 Characters
箋1607 SEN writing)’ (Ogawa); in broadly similar fashion,
L1 paper, letter Shirakawa takes associated sense as ‘thin and
placed on top’, and suggests original mean-
14 strokes ing may have been ‘title slip’ for a book cover.
Bamboo strips were important as material
BINSEN stationery for writing before invention of paper by the
FUSEN tag, label Chinese (what Tsien terms ‘true paper’ was
YŌSEN blank paper, form invented in 105AD). OT1968:755; SS1984:524;
TT1962:131-37.
Seal ; late graph (Shuowen). Has 58
‘bamboo’, and 545 (halberds; ‘fight, cut’) Mnemonic: WRITE LETTER TO PAPER ABOUT
as phonetic with associated sense ‘small,
shallow’, thus ‘(thin) bamboo strips (for TWO WOODEN HALBERDS
潜1608 SEN, hisomu, moguru shared associated sense here is ‘enter into’, re-
L1 dive, lurk, hide flected in the overall meaning taken by these
scholars, i.e. ‘pass through/under’, with ‘lie
15 strokes hidden’ as extended sense. Note: Shirakawa
interprets as two hairpins over prayer
SENZAI latency receptacle to indicate secretly putting curse
SENSUI diving on someone. TA1965:807-11; KJ1970:564-5;
mogurikomu ‘hole up’ OT1968:608; GY2008:1841; SS1984:525. Take
㚘 as two husbands 601, and ‘sun’ 66.
Seal ; late graph (Shuowen); traditional .
Has 42 ‘water’, and (see Note below) as Mnemonic: TWO HUSBANDS DIVE INTO
phonetic with associated sense taken various-
ly as ‘sink’ (Katō), ‘insert’ (Ogawa, Gu), or ‘enter SUNLIT WATERS
confined space’ (Tōdō); despite differences,
遷1609 SEN, utsuru Seal ; late graph (Shuowen). Has 85 ‘go,
L1 shift, move, change move’, and 䙴 (see Note to 1597) as phonetic
with associated sense taken as i] ‘move to a
15 strokes high place’, thus ‘climb high’ (Katō), or ii] ‘depart’,
thus ‘move’ (Ogawa). ‘Move’ is the generalized
HENSEN change sense. OT1968:1014; KJ1970:87. Suggest as
SEN’EN procrastination ‘west’ 169, as ‘self’ 866 and as ‘big’ 56.
SENGE death of dignitary
Mnemonic: MOVE ONESELF IN BIG SHIFT TO
WEST – QUITE A CHANGE
薦1610 SEN, susumeru, komo Bronze ; seal . Has 53 ‘plant, vegeta-
L1 recommend, offer, tion’, and 廌 (originally, depiction of mythical
beast said to be similar to a stag) taken in one
straw mat(ting) interpretation as both semantic and phonetic,
meaning ‘fine vegetation which (such a) crea-
16 strokes ture would eat’. In this interpretation, ‘offer’ is
seen as a loan usage (Ogawa). Alternatively,
SUISEN recommendation 廌 is regarded as phonetic with an associated
JISEN self-recommendation
SENKOTSU sacrum
The Remaining 1130 Characters 477
meaning taken either as i] ‘fine, fresh’, giving usage, though it may be semantically linked
‘fresh vegetation (for ruminants)’ (Katō), or ii] with vegetation. OT1968:874; KJ1970:769;
‘put in order, arrange’, giving ‘put vegetation TA1965:569-71. We suggest taking this dif-
(or other items) in order and offer’ (Tōdō). The ficult character as 53 ‘grass/plant’, 127
meaning ‘recommend’ is an extended sense. building and the remainder as a ‘bird’
Note also that a seemingly unrelated meaning 190 with an ‘odd’ head.
of this character is that of straw mat or mat-
ting, such as the matting around a sake bottle. Mnemonic: BIRD WITH ODD HEAD RECOM-
This meaning would appear to be a loan
MENDS STRAW MATTING FOR BUILDING
繊1611 SEN phonetic in function with associated sense
L1 fine, slender ‘something sharp [= ‘blade’] thrusts in’,
though this commentator (Tōdō) notes that
17 strokes in the graph the associated sense is ‘fine,
slender’. Alternatively, ‘cut up fine’ is taken
SEN’I fiber as the associated sense of 韱. The overall
SENSAI na fine, delicate original meaning of is ‘fine-textured silk/
SENMŌ cilia, fine hairs fabric’; this then became generalized to ‘fine,
slender’. OT1968:790; TA1965:848-52. In addi-
Seal ; a late graph (Shuowen); traditional tion to thread, we suggest taking as variant
. Has 29 ‘thread’, and 韱 (CO, ‘wild leek/ of 48 ‘red’ plus one , and as halberd
(see 545).
chives/garlic’ [plant within the Allium genus])
taken in one analysis as both semantic and Mnemonic: CUT ONE SLENDER RED THREAD
phonetic in the extended sense ‘small, fine’,
giving ‘many fine threads’ (Ogawa). Another WITH HALBERD
analysis prefers to treat 韱 alternatively as
鮮1612 SEN, azayaka with (‘sheep’ as abbreviation for 羴 ‘odor of
L1 fresh, vivid, clear sheep’) as phonetic with associated sense taken
as ‘live’, and so ‘live fish’ (Ogawa), ‘fresh’ being
17 strokes regarded as an extended sense. A different
interpretation, based on historical sound values
SENGYO fresh fish in early Chinese, is that is not an abbreviation
SENMEI na clear, vivid of 羴 serving as a phonetic, and that instead
CHŌSEN Korea the right-hand element was – and is – in its
semantic function as ‘sheep’, giving ‘raw flesh of
Bronze ; seal . Interpretations differ. Ac- fish and sheep’ (Tōdō). At one stage 1612 had a
cording to Shuowen, referred to a type of fish, minor meaning of ‘few’, which was a loan usage,
and 426 ‘sheep’ stood here as an abbrevia- but is now virtually defunct. DJ2009:v3:949;
tion for 羴 ‘odor of sheep’; this explanation does QX2000:198; MS1995:v2:1494-6,1044-5;
not necessarily mean, though, that the original OT1968:1144; TA1965:568.
meaning was a type of fish. According to Qiu,
was borrowed to write another, more compli- Mnemonic: SHEEP AND FISH SHOULD BE
cated graph 鱻 meaning ‘many fresh fish’, and
possibly by extension on this basis for ‘fresh, BRIGHT AND FRESH
new’. Alternatively, considered to be 109 ‘fish’,
478 The Remaining 1130 Characters
禅1613 ZEN platform for Emperor’s rituals to Heaven’.
L1 Zen, meditation The meaning ‘Zen’ (Buddhism) is a loan us-
age in which was borrowed for its sound
13 strokes value to represent a loanword into Chinese
based on Sanskrit dhyāna ‘meditation’, but
ZAZEN meditation this graph may well have been selected for
ZENSHŪ Zen sect this role partly for semantic reasons also
ZENdera Zen temple on account of its original meaning associ-
ated with ritual. SS1984:532; OT1968:725;
Seal ; a late graph (Shuowen); traditional TA1965:537.
. Has / 723 ‘show, altar’ (originally, pic-
Mnemonic: ZEN ENTAILS SIMPLE
tograph of sacrificial altar’), and ( 569
‘simple’) as phonetic with associated sense MEDITATION AT ALTAR
‘raised earth platform’, giving ‘raised earth
漸1614 ZEN vance running at the front’; ‘gradually’ is then
L1 gradual advance taken as an extended sense from ‘advance’.
Another commentator proposes a more
14 strokes direct semantic evolution, giving a classical
reference which supports the meaning ‘(rain)
ZENJI gradually gradually soaks through’, and by extension
ZENSHINTEKI gradual ‘gradually’ (Shirakawa). DJ2009:v3:879,v1:134;
TŌZEN eastward advance ZY2009:v4:1297; QX2000:196; KJ1970:632-3;
SS1984:532. We suggest taking the elements
Seal ; a late graph (Shuowen). Has 42 as water , 33 ‘vehicle’, and 1233 ‘ax/
‘water’, and (NJK ‘cut, behead, kill’) as pho- chop/cleave’.
netic. Shuowen defines as ‘name of a river’.
In considering the meaning ‘gradually’, Katō Mnemonic: VEHICLE GRADUALLY ADVANCES,
proposes a link with another homophonous
graph listed in Shuowen, viz. , which has CLEAVING THROUGH WATER
179 ‘run’ (Qiu suggests the sense in early Chi-
nese was ‘jog, trot’) as determinative, com- Or: LOSE YOUR HEAD IN THE WATER DURING
bining with as phonetic with associated
meaning ‘move forward, advance’, to give ‘ad- A GRADUAL ADVANCE
膳1615 ZEN Bronze ; seal . Consists of / 209
L1 food, table, tray, ‘meat, flesh’, combined with 929 (‘good,
virtuous’) as phonetic with associated sense
chopsticks counter taken as i] ‘splendid, without blemish, com-
plete’, giving ‘tender meat, food without blem-
16 strokes ish, array of prepared food’ (Mizukami), ‘fine
food’ (Katō), or ii] ‘plentiful, abundant’, giving
SHOKUZEN dining table ‘plentiful prepared food’ (Tōdō). ‘Small low
HAIZEN setting the table table, tray’ and ‘set of food on low table/tray’
ICHIZEN bowl and chopsticks are extended senses, as also is the function
of acting as counter for chopsticks (in pairs).
MS1995:v2:1080-81; KJ1970:635; TA1965:528.
Mnemonic: GOOD MEATY FOOD IS ON THE
TRAY-TABLE
The Remaining 1130 Characters 479
繕1616 ZEN, tsukurou Seal ; a late graph (Shuowen). Has 29
L1 repair, mend ‘thread’, and 929 ‘good’ taken in one view
as semantic and phonetic, giving ‘make good
18 strokes with thread, repair’ (Katō); originally, no
doubt, with reference to clothing, but then
SHŪZEN repair(s) in a broader sense. Tōdō, in contrast, takes
SHŪZENKŌ repairman
tsukuroikazaru hide error here as phonetic with associated sense
‘more than ample’, giving ‘make good without
skimping’. KJ1970:635; TA1965:528.
Mnemonic: MEND WITH GOOD THREAD
狙1617 SO, nerau Shuowen was compiled, as that work explains it
L1 aim as referring to a type of monkey or possibly
dog; associated sense of the phonetic is un-
8 strokes clear. Gu takes as meaning a type of monkey
which would lie in wait and then attack humans,
SOGEKI shooting, sniping and so ‘lie in wait’ is treated as an extended
neraidokoro objective sense; this interpretation, though, is only tenta-
akisunerai sneak thief tive. Uncertain, therefore, whether ‘aim’ is an
extended sense or a loan usage. DJ2009:v3:799;
Seal ; a late graph (Shuowen). Consists of GY2008:684.
19 ‘dog’, and 1135 (‘furthermore’) as
Mnemonic: FURTHERMORE, WE AIM AT DOGS
phonetic. The original meaning appears to
have already been uncertain at the time when
阻1618 SO, habamu Seal ; a late graph (Shuowen). Has 262
L1 obstruct, hinder ( ) ‘hill, mound’, and 1135 (‘furthermore’;
originally, possibly a pictograph of a layered
8 strokes object such as a tomb built with multiple layers
of earth, or a cairn) as phonetic with associated
SOSHI hindrance sense ‘pile up’, giving ‘mountains piled up high
SOGAI obstruction on top of one another’ (Ogawa says ‘mountain
KENSO na steep road zigzags steeply’); by extension, ‘sepa-
rate, obstruct’. KJ1970:640-41; TA1965:364-6;
OT1968:1065.
Mnemonic: FURTHERMORE, A MOUND CAN
OBSTRUCT AND HINDER
租1619 SO Seal ; a late graph (Shuowen). Has 87
L1 levy, tithe ‘grain’, and 1135 (‘furthermore’/[piled
objects]) as phonetic with associated sense
10 strokes ‘plough’, giving ‘grain from cultivating com-
mon fields’, and by extension ‘grain to pay as
SOZEI taxes, rates tribute’; later generalized to ‘levy’. OT1968:732;
SOSHAKU lease KJ1970:642-3; SS1984:534.
SOSHAKKEN leasehold
Mnemonic: FURTHERMORE, THERE IS A LEVY
ON GRAIN
480 The Remaining 1130 Characters
措1620 SO phonetic with associated sense generally
L1 place, dispose taken as ‘place, pile up’; several commenta-
tors regard ‘cast aside’ as an extended sense
11 strokes (Ogawa, Katō), though Tōdō does not support
this. Schuessler includes both ‘place’ and ‘lay
SOCHI action, step aside’ as meanings. OT1968:420; KJ1970:615;
SOJI phraseology AS2007:638.
KYOSO behavior
Mnemonic: HAND FROM THE PAST PLACED
Seal ; a late graph (Shuowen). Has 34
‘hand’, and 346 (‘in olden times, past’) as AT ONE’S DISPOSAL
粗1621 SO, arai objects]) as phonetic with associated sense
L1 coarse, rough taken as i] ‘scatter’, giving ‘unrefined rice, non-
glutinous rice’ (Ogawa; Gu also says ‘unre-
11 strokes fined rice’), or ii] ‘coarse’, giving ‘cracked rice’
(Katō). Either analysis still gives the extended
SOMATSU coarseness sense ‘coarse’.OT1968:761; GY2008:1310;
SOTŌ raw sugar KJ1970:641.
arasuji rough outline
Mnemonic: FURTHERMORE, THE RICE IS
Seal ; a late graph (Shuowen). Has 220
‘rice’, and 1135 (‘furthermore’/[piled COARSE
疎1622 SO, utoi/mu (‘baby born in flow of amniotic fluid’), and /
L1 distant, shun, pass, 1574 (‘leg’) as phonetic with associated sense
‘pass through’ > ‘baby passes from mother’s
estranged body and is born’ (Katō, Gu). Ogawa takes as
‘flow passes through’. Modern form has ‘bun-
12 strokes dle’ 561. ‘Shun, estranged, distant’ are extended
meanings from parturition. KJ1970:584-5;
SOKAKU alienation GY2008:1522-3; OT1968:676.
SOKAISHA evacuee
utoutoshii unfriendly Mnemonic: SHUNNED FOR HAVING BUNDLES
Seal ( ) ; late graph (Shuowen). evolved ON ONE’S LEGS
as popular variant of . itself has 㐬 432
訴1623 SO, uttaeru other view is seen as phonetic with associat-
L1 sue, appeal ed sense ‘go upstream, back’, thus ‘speak about
something from base up’ (Ogawa). Despite
12 strokes some apparent divergence, both interpreta-
tions involve a process of resistance; Ogawa’s
KOKUSO legal action analysis could equally well be regarded as giv-
AISO appeal ing the overall meaning ‘go verbally against the
SOSHŌJIKEN lawsuit tide’. TA1965:375; OT1968:925.
Seal ; late graph (Shuowen). Has 118 Mnemonic: WORDS OF REJECTION LEAD ONE
‘words; speak’, with 1586 (‘reject’). In one
view, has semantic role, giving ‘offer verbal TO APPEAL AND SUE
resistance’, hence ‘claim against’ (Tōdō). In an-
The Remaining 1130 Characters 481
塑1624 SO ‘scrape’, giving ‘figure made by scraping away
L1 model, figurine clay’ (Ogawa). Both analyses give ‘model’ (in the
sense ‘likeness’). Note: has 18 ‘moon’, and
13 strokes 屰 675 (interpreted as meaning either ‘person
upside down’ or ‘branch without leaves’) as
SOZŌ figure, figurine phonetic with associated sense ‘return to point
CHŌSO plastic arts of origin’ or ‘go in opposite direction’, giving
KASOSEI plasticity ‘moonlight shines again from original posi-
tion’ (Mizukami). KJ1970:640; OT1968:222;
A very late graph (Song and Yuan dynasties on- MS1995:v1:638-9; SS1984:536;. We suggest
wards). Has 64 ‘earth’, here in its occasional taking 屰 as ‘upside-down’ and 18 ‘moon’.
meaning ‘clay’, and (‘new moon, first day
of lunar month’; see Note below) as phonetic Mnemonic: EARTHEN MODEL OF
with associated sense taken as i] ‘model after’,
giving ‘imitate shape with clay’ (Katō), or ii] UPSIDE-DOWN MOON
遡1625 SO, sakanoboru Seal ; late graph (Shuowen). The entry
L1 go upstream, back heading in Shuowen has 42 ‘water’ as
14 strokes (遡) determinative, and notes 遡 as an alterna-
tive, which has / 85 ‘go, walk’ instead.
遡 SOKYŪTEKI retroactive (see 1624 Note) is phonetic with associated
遡 SOKŌ going upstream sense ‘return to point of origin, go back’, thus
遡 sakanoboru go back/upstream ‘go upstream’, then generalized to ‘ go back’.
Today, is a variant in Japanese. OT1968:600;
GY1658-9. As with 1624, we suggest taking 屰
as ‘upside-down’ and 18 ‘moon’.
Mnemonic: GO BACK UPSTREAM TO SEE
UPSIDE-DOWN MOON
礎1626 SO, ishizue ancient state in China’ has 79 ‘forest, trees’,
L1 foundation stone and 1574 (‘leg, foot’) as phonetic with
associated sense taken as i] ‘thicket’, giving
18 strokes ‘small shrubs, many small shrubs’ (Katō), or
ii] ‘separated, scattered’, giving ‘brushwood,
SOSEKI foundation stone scattered branches’ (Tōdō; noted in Mizu-
KISO basis kami also). Schuessler gives meaning of as
KISOTEKI elementary ‘thorny bush/tree’ (also given in Mizukami, as
extended sense). ‘Chu’ as the name of an an-
Seal ; late graph (later version of Shuo- cient Chinese state appears to be a loan us-
wen). Has 47 ‘stone’, and (see Note) as age. KJ1970:585-6; SS1984:537; OT1968:716;
phonetic with associated sense taken as i] MS1995:v1:680-81; AS2007:193. We suggest
‘place beneath pillar’, giving ‘stone to place taking as ‘two trees’ 73.
beneath pillar’ (Katō, Shirakawa), or ii] ‘be-
ginning’, giving ‘stone which is placed first’ Mnemonic: FOUNDATION STONE LAID AT
(Ogawa); in either case, overall meaning is
‘foundation stone’, then narrowed to ‘founda- FOOT OF TWO TREES
tion’. Note: ‘thicket, thorny bush; name of
482 The Remaining 1130 Characters
双1627 SŌ, futa- Seal ; a late graph (Shuowen); traditional
L2 pair, both . Has 324 ‘short-tailed bird, bird’ dupli-
4 strokes cated over 2003 ‘hand’, giving ‘two birds
caught in the hand’, and by extension ‘two, a
SŌHŌ both sides pair’. TA1965:372; GY2008:125; OT1968:152.
MUSŌ no matchless
futago twins Mnemonic: ‘PAIR OF HANDS’ MEANS BOTH
HANDS
壮1628 SŌ Bronze ; seal ; traditional . Has 521
L1 manly, strong, grand, ‘adult male/samurai’ (or possibly ‘phallus’), and
fertile / 1488 (‘bed’) with associated sense ‘big’,
giving ‘big man’; by extension, ‘vigorous, flour-
6 strokes ishing’. MS1995:v1:282-3,v2:824-5; KJ1970:434;
OT1968:228.
SŌDAI grandeur
KYŌSŌ robustness Mnemonic: SAMURAI IS MANLY IN BED
SŌSHA man in prime
荘1629 SŌ, SHŌ Seal ; late graph (Shuowen); traditional
L1 solemn, majestic, . Has 53 ‘plants, grass,’, and / 1628
estate, manor ‘vigorous, flourishing’ as semantic and
phonetic, thus ‘vegetation grows luxuriantly’
9 strokes (Katō, Ogawa). Tōdō is in broad agreement,
but adds connotation ‘well-ordered’. By exten-
SŌGON solemnity, majesty sion, ‘countryside’ and then ‘country estate’.
SHŌEN estate, manor It is not clear whether ‘solemn, majestic’ is a
BESSŌ country retreat, villa loan usage or extended sense. KJ1970:435;
OT1968:853; TA1965:378-80.
Mnemonic: SOLEMN SAMURAI BEDS DOWN
IN MAJESTIC GRASSY MANOR
捜1630 SŌ, sagasu added as a determinative, and this is taken
L2 search by Katō as signifying specifically ‘search by
hand’; this may simply be a case of a determi-
10 strokes native added redundantly to a graph already
complete in terms of its constituent elements.
SŌSA investigation OT1968:415; MS1995:v1:200-01; KJ1970:643.
SŌSAKU search Suggest hand(s) 2003, 338 (‘expound’) as
sagashidasu seek out ‘stick’ and ‘field’ 63, or alternatively take
as symbol of piercing and ‘sun’ 66.
Seal ; traditional ( ) . Seal form has
34 ‘hand’ and (NJK, ‘old man’), the latter Mnemonic: MULTIPLE HANDS SEARCH FOR
probably a variant of 叜, a graph which occurs
in OBI onwards. The graph 叜 depicts a hand STICK IN FIELD
holding fire (a flaming torch) inside a house,
giving the general overall meaning ‘search, Or: MULTIPLE HANDS SEARCH FOR A WAY TO
look for’; the meaning ‘old man’ is a later loan
usage of . At the seal stage, ‘hand’ was PIERCE THE SUN
The Remaining 1130 Characters 483
挿1631 SŌ, sasu resemble each other in shape in seal, but
L1 insert more so in block script, hence the potential
for divergence in interpretation as well as
10 strokes confusion in writing. The later shapes and
SŌNYŪ insertion , with a slanted top stroke, are just minor
SŌWA episode variants of 臿. Note: is considered origi-
sashiE illustration nally to depict a bifurcated branch; usually
interpreted as a weapon for stabbing, but
Seal ; a late graph (Shuowen); traditional here appears to represent something slightly
. Has 34 ‘hand’ and CO 臿 as semantic different but with a broadly similar domestic
purpose, i.e. a pole with handles for piercing
and phonetic. 臿 is analysed in one view as or pounding. TA1965:848-51; OT1968:423,834;
a pounder ( 840 [‘dry; shield’; see Note MS1995:v1:446-7; GY2008:1404. We suggest
below]) with a mortar ( see 677), giving taking as 49 ‘thousand’ and 66 ‘day’.
‘pierce’ as the original meaning (Tōdō). In
another analysis, the element combining Mnemonic: HAND INSERTS A THOUSAND
with is not ‘mortar’ but ‘two hands’,
though in similar vein the meaning is ‘pierce, ITEMS A DAY
pound’ (Ogawa); these two shapes quite
桑1632 SŌ, kuwa (‘young’) as phonetic with associated sense
L1 mulberry ‘pliant, flexible’, giving ‘tree with soft buds
which appear in spring’. Note: on the basis of
10 strokes its bronze and OBI forms, 叒 is interpreted as
meaning i] ‘big, pliant branches and leaves
SŌEN mulberry farm of mulberry tree’, or ii] ‘flexible shamaness
kuwairo light yellow performing ritual dance for deities’; a graph
kuwabata mulberry field which also possibly served as the ancestral
form of at the OBI stage before becom-
OBI ; seal . The OBI form is a pictograph ing divergent in shape in bronze (Mizu-
of a tree with big leaves on bent branches, kami). MS1995:v1:666-7,196-7,v2:1112-3;
and the seal form also may be regarded as a KJ1970:427-8; GY2008:1169. We suggest
graph having the same structure. Defined in taking as ‘hand’ 2003.
Shuowen as ‘tree which silkworms feed on’,
and hence ‘mulberry’. Katō, though, prefers Mnemonic: IT TAKES THREE HANDS TO PICK
to take the seal form not as a pictograph, but
as comprising 73 ‘tree’, combined with 叒 MULBERRIES FROM THE TREE
(see Note below) as an abbreviation of 896
掃1633 SŌ, haku placed by 34 ‘hand’. The change is difficult
L2 sweep to date, but it is clear that was already be-
ing used in Han times. Katō prefers to take
11 strokes in as serving not a semantic but phonetic
role with associated sense ‘make good, put in
SŌJIKI vacuum cleaner order’, giving ‘adorn and clean by hand’. The
ISSŌ sweeping away first view noted here seems more persuasive.
hakidasu sweep out DJ2009:v3:1120; QX2000:202; OT1968:420;
GY2008:1182; FC1974:v1:940-41.
Seal (埽) . Shuowen has 埽, comprising
64 ‘earth, soil’ and 106 ‘broom’ (see) to give Mnemonic: SWEEP BY HAND USING A
‘sweep soil/dirt’, and this is generally regarded
as the ancestral form of , which has re- BROOM
484 The Remaining 1130 Characters
曹1634 SŌ, ZŌ 201 ‘east’, but regarded here as specifically
L1 official, companion signifying bags containing material relevant
to a court hearing (Shirakawa). Tōdō also takes
11 strokes the top part of the older forms of this graph as
two (unspecified) objects lined up, with over-
HŌSŌ lawyer all sense ‘come/put together; those who come
GUNSŌ sergeant together, equals’ (the element ‘speak’ does
ZŌSHI cadet not seem to be accounted for in this analysis).
Examples of the abbreviated form can be
OBI ; seal . Views diverge. In one view, the found in the clerical script at the same time as
OBI has 22 ‘mouth, speak’, and 㯥 (tentative the original more complicated version. Note
meaning: ‘sunrise, dawn’ [Mizukami]: see Note 1: while OBI forms for 㯥 are clearly made up
1 below) as phonetic with associated sense of a duplication of ‘east’, opinions vary on
‘two persons meet/line up’, giving ‘two people the meaning. Note 2: OBI occurrences have
speak’, these being a plaintiff and defendant
arguing in court; then by extension, ‘an of- 22 ‘mouth; speak’ rather than ‘speak’,
ficial’, such as one who hears them (Mizukami: though this makes little if any difference to
see Note 2 below). In another view, the OBI the view of Mizukami, especially since
form is interpreted as 22 ‘mouth, speak’, and can both mean ‘speak’. TA1965:216-18;
combined with the two identical shapes MS1995:v1:632-3,628-9,688-90; GY2008:1205;
above it which are taken to represent lanterns, SS1984:543; WM1974:52-3. We suggest taking
giving the overall meaning ‘a pair, form a pair’ this graph as double ‘suns’ 66 and a ‘long’
(Gu); in this view, ‘plaintiff and defendant’ are version of grass/vegetation .
seen as making up such a pair. In another
analysis, 㯥 is taken to represent two tied Mnemonic: OFFICIAL SAYS DOUBLE SUNS
bags, in line with the origin of the graph
MAKE THE GRASS GROW LONG
曽1635 SŌ, SO, katsute making steam – was added as the bottom ele-
L1 former(ly), once, ment, giving ‘steamer’ as the likely meaning.
Subsequently adopted as a convenient means
before, previous of representing several other homophones
or near-homophones of abstract mean-
11 strokes ing (grammatical function words) in early
Chinese such as ‘once in the past, formerly’.
SŌSOFU great grandfather OT1968:478; GY2008:1507; MS1995:v1:634-5;
SŌSOBO great grandmother WD1974:713-5. Suggest taking 70 as ‘go
SŌYŪ previous visit away’, 63 ‘field’, and 66 ‘day’.
OBI ; bronze ; seal ; traditional . Origi- Mnemonic: FORMER DAYS WHEN WE WERE
nally, a pictograph of a sieve or steamer. The
OBI form may be taken as depicting either, ONCE IN THE FIELDS HAVE GONE
but at the bronze stage a pot – probably for
爽1636 SŌ, sawayaka Bronze ; seal . Interpretations differ. In
L1 refreshing, clear one view, the graph represents a figure 56
‘big’, wearing a beautiful garment with long
11 strokes sleeves, giving ‘beautiful’ and by extension
‘clear’ (Ogawa). Another analysis treats as
SŌKAI na exhilerating ‘person’, combined with (originally ‘crossed
SASSŌ taru dashing, gallant tally sticks; intertwined’; see Note below) re-
sawayaka na refreshing duplicated taken as window lattice-work, sig-
The Remaining 1130 Characters 485
nifying a person looking outside and perceiv- occurrences appear to represent something
ing it as bright, giving ‘clear, bright’ (Gu). Katō other than breasts. Difficult to ascertain what
also takes as ‘person’, or rather ‘big person’, was originally represented by this graph. See
but rejects the ‘window’ interpretation, re- Note below. ‘Refreshing’ is almost certainly an
garding reduplicated instead as phonetic extended meaning from ‘clear’. Note: the ele-
with associated sense ‘wound, injure’, giving ment reduplicated is perhaps a regulari-
‘suffer a wound’. A further view (noted by zation of the rather divergent shapes in OBI
Mizukami) takes reduplicated as represent- and bronze. OT1968:250; GY2008:1212-13;
ing breasts or tattoos, giving the proposed KJ1970:587-8; MS1995:v2:822-3. We suggest
meaning ‘pair of breasts/tattoos on a person’. taking the graph as ‘big person’ 56 and the
Perhaps a weak point with the breasts/tattoos crosses as wounds.
proposal, at least as far as breasts are con-
cerned, is that the elements accompanying Mnemonic: BIG MAN WITH FOUR WOUNDS
in the OBI (status tentative) and bronze CLEARLY NEEDS REFRESHING
喪1637 SŌ, mo interprets on the basis of the bronze form
L1 mourn, loss, death as originally consisting of , plus CO ‘wail,
lament, mourn’ (originally, ‘dog howls’); he
12 strokes interprets this combination idiosyncratically as
lining up prayer receptacles (his interpretation
SŌSHITSU loss, forfeiture of ) and adding a dog sacrifice to them, giv-
moFUKU mourning dress ing the overall meaning ‘lament the deceased’;
moCHŪ in mourning alternatively, it seems ‘lament the deceased’
could be extrapolated from this combination
Bronze ; seal . Bronze form has 985 ‘die; of elements simply by taking in its general-
lose’ (originally, depiction of person hiding), ized sense ‘lament’ (the bronze forms vary in
together with what in one view is taken as 㖾 shape: several could be taken as including
(original way of writing [CO, ‘quarrel loudly a tree with twisted branches, while several
to correct someone’]) as phonetic with associ- others could alternatively represent a dog).
ated sense ‘die, disappear’, giving ‘corpse is re- Proposed OBI equivalents are listed by Mizu-
duced to bleached bones through exposure to kami and also Gu. SS1984:544; MS1995:v1:240-
elements’ (Katō). Alternatively (Gu), the bronze 41,230-31,v2:836-7; KJ1970:409-10;
form is interpreted as consisting of twisted GY2008:578; AS2007:337; ZY2009:v1:134.
branches of a mulberry tree combined with 㗊 We suggest taking this graph as ‘ten’ 35,
(‘noisy’) or (same meaning here), signifying two boxes , and as ‘strange’ variant of
‘people wailing/lamenting beneath mulberry clothes 444.
tree’; Gu notes that in ancient times there was
an association between the mulberry tree and Mnemonic: MOURN THE LOSS OF TWO
the grieving process when someone died.
Another view is offered by Shirakawa, who BOXES OF STRANGE CLOTHES
痩1638 SŌ, yaseru Seal ; a late graph (Shuowen); traditional
L1 become thin . Has 404 ‘sick-bed, sickness’, and (‘old
12 strokes man’; see 1630) as phonetic with associated
sense ‘slender’, giving ‘grow thin’. For the mod-
SŌSHIN slender body ern form, we suggest 2003 ‘hand’ and
yasetsuchi barren soil 338 (‘expound, talk’). OT1968:681; TA1965:206-
yasegata skinny figure 12; GY2008:1747.
Mnemonic: HANDY TALK ABOUT SICKNESS
THAT MAKES YOU THIN
486 The Remaining 1130 Characters
葬1639 SŌ, hōmuru a corpse 302 on a mat (represented just as
L1 bury a horizontal line), with vegetation ( ) above
and below. In block script, the lower part of
12 strokes the graph is modified to , a determinative
originally showing two hands facing upward
SŌSHIKI funeral and hence meaning ‘offer up’; this change may
SŌGIYA undertaker be based on misinterpretation of the lower
SŌKA dirge element ‘vegetation’, as and are of
similar shape in the seal forms. GY2008:1375;
OBI ; seal . OBI forms show some vari- MS1995:v2:1124-5. Take as ‘death’ 302, as
ation, but a quite common shape is vegeta- ‘(long) grass’, and as ‘grass’ 53.
tion on top of a coffin with a corpse inside.
Other OBI forms occurring include a figure Mnemonic: DEATH FOLLOWED BY BURIAL
with a stand or frame inside a coffin, and
sometimes the figure is omitted – probably an SURROUNDED BY GRASS
abbreviation. In similar fashion, seal form has
僧1640 SŌ sent a new loanword for ‘Buddhist monk’ into
L1 priest Chinese from Sanskrit, based on pronuncia-
tion of first syllable of Sanskrit sangha ‘monk’.
13 strokes Has 41 person, and 1635 (‘formerly’)
used just for its sound value. KJ1970:320;
SŌIN monastery, temple SS1984:545; OT1968:79. As with 1635, take
KŌSŌ high priest as ‘away’ 70, 63 ‘field’, and 66 ‘day’.
SŌSHOKU priesthood
Mnemonic: PERSON GOING AWAY DAILY
Seal ; late graph (later version of Shuowen);
traditional: ᳂. A graph devised upon FROM FIELD IS A PRIEST
introduction of Buddhism to China to repre-
遭1641 SŌ, au Seal ; late graph (Shuowen). Has ’move’
L1 encounter, meet 85, with 1634 ‘official’ as semantic (in
earlier sense ‘come together’ [Schuessler]) and
14 strokes phonetic, giving ‘two parties come together
unexpectedly’, i.e. ‘encounter’. OT1968:1012;
SŌGŪ encounter TA1965:216-18; SS1984:547; AS2007:600.
SŌNAN accident
SŌNANSHINGŌ SOS Mnemonic: ENCOUNTER OFFICIAL ON THE
MOVE
槽1642 SŌ semantic (in earlier sense ‘put together’) and
L1 tank, tub, vat phonetic, giving ‘object put together with
wood’ (Gu). In Shuowen, is defined as ‘trough
15 strokes for animal feed’; sense later extended to other
large wooden containers such as ‘barrel, vat’.
SUISŌ water tank Ogawa treats the element here as pho-
YOKUSŌ bathtub netic, though with associated sense unclear.
SHISŌ tooth socket GY2008:1786-7; SS1984:548; OT1968:523.
Seal ; a late graph (Shuowen). Has 73 Mnemonic: OFFICIAL HAS A WOODEN TUB
‘wood, tree’, and 1634 ‘official’. The latter
element is taken by one commentator as
The Remaining 1130 Characters 487
踪1643 SŌ A very late post-Shuowen graph. Originally
L1 footprint, traces, written , comprising 54 ‘foot, leg’, and
(traditional form of ‘follow’ 902) as semantic
remains and phonetic, giving ‘footprints, track, remains’.
Later, the phonetic element was changed to
15 strokes 899 ‘religion’, resulting in the new form as
a popular variant. GY2008:1810; SS1984:455;
SŌSEKI one’s whereabouts OT1968:976.
SHISSŌ disappearance
SHISSŌSHA missing person Mnemonic: FOOTPRINTS SHOW TRACES OF A
RELIGION
燥1644 SŌ wood’, with , here representing not ‘mouths
L2 dry, parch of people’ (original sense of 405 ‘goods’),
but more specifically – based on the context
17 strokes with ‘tree’ – as ‘mouths of birds’, giving ‘birds
singing/chirping in tree’, i.e. ‘noisy’. KJ1970:435;
KANSŌ dryness MS1995:v1:242-3. We suggest taking as
SHŌSŌ impatience three boxes.
KŌSŌCHI high dry ground
Mnemonic: DRY THREE WOODEN BOXES BY
Seal ; a late graph (Shuowen). Has 8 ‘fire’, FIRE
and 喿 (CO ‘noisy’; see Note below) as pho-
Or: THREE MOUTHS IN A PARCHED TREE
netic with associated sense ‘water disappears’, WARN OF FIRE
giving ‘water disappears in presence of fire’,
and hence ‘dry’. Note: 喿 consists of 73 ‘tree,
霜1645 SŌ, shimo formed from water vapor’ (Ogawa), an impres-
L1 frost sion that might be created in some condi-
tions. Shuowen defines this graph as ‘that
17 strokes which destroys and creates’, a reference to
frost destroying some vegetables and fruits
SŌGAI frost damage when it forms. Mizukami lists a proposed OBI
shimoyo frosty night equivalent. DJ2009:v3:941; OT1968:1088;
shimofuriNIKU marbled beef MS1995:v2:1422-4.
Seal . Has 3 ‘rain’, here in the closely Mnemonic: MUTUAL RELATIONSHIP
related meaning ‘water vapor’, with 348
(‘mutual’) as phonetic with associated sense BETWEEN RAIN AND FROST?
‘divided into columns’ giving ‘frost columns
騒1646 SŌ, sawagu/gashii Seal ; a late graph (Shuowen). Has 210
L1 disturbance, noise ‘horse’, and NJK ‘flea’ acting in one view
as semantic and phonetic, meaning ‘scratch,
18 strokes claw at’, to give ‘horse rakes ground with
hoof and is noisy/restless’. Gu, alternatively,
SŌON cacophony takes as signifying ‘restless’, to give either
SŌDŌ disturbance ‘horse is agitated’, or ‘groom horse with
ōsawagi uproar, chaos
488 The Remaining 1130 Characters
comb’. Sense then generalized to ‘distur- Mnemonic: HAND SLAPS INSECT ON HORSE
bance, noise’. TA1965:212-4; OT1968:1128; – NOISY DISTURBANCE FOLLOWS
GY2008:1529. For the modern ‘dotless’ form
of flea in this graph, , take as ‘hand’
2003, and 60 ‘insect’.
藻1647 SŌ, mo Seal (薻) ; late graph (Shuowen). Entry
L1 waterweed, seaweed heading in Shuowen has 薻, but is noted
as alternative form, one which later became
19 strokes predominant. Has 53 ‘plant, vegetation’, and
monuke cast off skin 42 ‘water’, with 560 (‘nest’) / 喿 (CO ‘noisy’
KAISŌ seaweed [1644 Note]) as phonetic with associated sense
SHISŌ rhetorical flourish taken as i] ‘tangled and string-like’ (Ogawa),
or ii] ‘float’ (Tōdō), either way giving ‘seaweed,
duckweed’. DJ2009:v1:86; TA1965:258-60;
OT1968:878. We suggest taking 喿 as three
boxes and ‘wood, tree’ 73.
Mnemonic: THREE WOODEN BOXES OF
PLANTS ARE ALL WATERWEED
憎1648 ZŌ, nikumu/i/shimi Seal ; late graph (Shuowen); traditional
L2 hate(ful) . Has 164 ‘mind, feelings’, and 1635
14 strokes (‘formerly’) as phonetic with associated sense
taken as i] ‘grow intense/violent’, thus ‘bad
ZŌO malice, hatred feeling towards another intensifies’ (Ogawa),
nikurashii hateful or ii] ‘ugly’, thus ‘consider (someone/ some-
nikumiai mutual hatred thing) ugly in one’s mind’ (Katō); either way,
‘hateful’. OT1968:386; KJ1970:320.
Mnemonic: FORMERLY HAD HATEFUL
FEELINGS
贈1649 ZŌ, SŌ, okuru Seal ; late graph (Shuowen); tradition-
L2 present, give al . Has 10 ‘shell currency, valuables’,
and 1635 (‘formerly’) as phonetic with
18 strokes associated sense taken as i] ‘send’, thus ‘send
valuables to another’ (Ogawa), or ii] ‘increase’,
ZŌYO presentation giving ‘increase another’s possessions with
KIZŌ/KISŌ donation valuables’; either way, generalized to ‘present,
okurimono a present, gift give’. OT1968:963; TA1965:111-14.
Mnemonic: FORMERLY ONE USED TO
PRESENT SHELLS AS GIFTS
The Remaining 1130 Characters 489
即1650 SOKU, sunawachi as a clerical script form, based on a note in
L1 immediate, accession, earlier Jiyun dictionary; in fact, shapes close
to were already common in clerical script.
namely Note: is an archaistic equivalent some-
times favored in older printed texts, though
7 strokes not usually supported in modern computer-
ised fonts. is accorded a separate entry
SOKUI accession in Kangxi zidian, which quotes Yupian in
SOKKOKU immediately describing it as the then contemporary way
SOKUSEKI impromptu of writing trad form B. MS1995:v1:182-3;
KZ2001:293,294/3671; SK1984:126-7;
OBI ; seal ; traditional form A ; tradi- KJ1970:183; QX2000:187; OT1968:147. We
tional form B . Traditional form A, which suggest taking as ‘uncovered food’ ( 163
reflects early shapes up to and including ‘food, eat’).
(particularly) seal, has 41 ‘person kneel-
ing’, with (CO, ‘millet [or similar] piled up Mnemonic: PERSON IMMEDIATELY KNEELS
in receptacle’) as semantic and phonetic,
thus ‘come in front of millet or other food/ BEFORE UNCOVERED FOOD
be about to eat’. Kangxi zidian has as
orthodox form, and notes (trad form B)
促1651 SOKU, unagasu Seal ; late graph (Shuowen). Has 41
L1 urge, press ‘person’, and 54 ‘foot, leg’ as phonetic with
associated sense taken in one view as ‘speed
9 strokes up’, giving ‘quicken one’s pace and close in
on someone’, and by extension ‘urge’ (Ogawa;
SOKUSHIN promotion Tōdō also notes associated sense as being
SAISOKU demand close to ‘quick’). Alternatively, as phonetic
SOKUSEI promotion, growth here is analyzed as having associated sense
‘shrink, make small’, giving ‘person of short
stature’, and in this interpretation ‘urge’ is
regarded as a loan usage (Katō). OT1968:65;
TA1965:295-8; KJ1970:646-7.
Mnemonic: PERSON URGED TO PRESS AHEAD
ON FOOT
捉1652 SOKU, toraeru Seal ; a late graph (Shuowen). Has 34 ‘hand’,
L1 seize, capture and 54 (‘foot, leg’) as phonetic with associat-
ed sense taken as ‘bring together and capture’,
10 strokes giving ‘capture’. Another view is broadly similar,
taking the associated sense as ‘firmly tighten
HASOKU grasp, comprehend one’s grip and capture’ (Tōdō; in his word-family
toraedokoro meaning, point ‘make smaller’). OT1968:413; TA1965:295-9.
Mnemonic: SEIZED BY THE FOOT AND THE
HAND – CAPTURED
490 The Remaining 1130 Characters
俗1653 ZOKU Bronze ; seal . Has 41 ‘person’, and
L1 worldly, vulgar, 135 (‘valley’) as phonetic with associ-
common ated sense taken in one view as ‘continue;
learn from others’, giving ‘do repeatedly,
9 strokes learn from others’ (Katō). Another com-
mentator takes with the associated
ZOKUGO slang sense ‘gathering’, giving ‘behavior of many
ZOKKA vulgarisation people, what many people do’, and hence
FŪZOKU customs ‘customs, practices’ (Ogawa). Alternatively,
the associated sense is considered to be ‘get
inside, be immersed’, giving ‘environment in
which people immerse themselves and live’
(noted in Mizukami). KJ1970:650; OT1968:65;
MS1995:v1:66-7.
Mnemonic: PEOPLE IN THE VALLEY HAVE
VULGAR AND WORLDLY CUSTOMS
賊1654 ZOKU Bronze ; seal . Has 545 ‘halberd’
L1 rebel, plunder, injure (Qiu translates as ‘dagger-ax’), and 764
(‘rule’) as phonetic with associated sense
13 strokes ‘wound, injure’, thus ‘wound with halberd/
dagger-ax’; meanings such as ‘thief, robber’
KAIZOKU pirate are extended senses. The right-hand element
TŌZOKU thief of reflects distortion at the block script
ZOKUGUN rebel army stage. FC1974:v2:2119-20; MS1995:v2:1240-
41,v1:130-32; KJ1970:651; QX2000:254;
SK1984:686,98. Take 35 as ‘ten’ and 10 as
‘shell-money’.
Mnemonic: TEN REBELS WITH HALBERDS
PLUNDER SHELL-MONEY
遜1655 SON, herikudaru Seal ; late graph (Shuowen). Has /
L1 (be) humble 85 ‘walk, go’, and 565 (‘descendants,
14 strokes (᰻) grandchildren’) as phonetic with associ-
ated sense seen in one view as ‘retreat, be
᰻ SONSHOKU inferiority humble/compliant’, thus ‘walk in retreat’
᰻ FUSON na arrogant (Mizukami). Alternatively, the associated
᰻ KENSON na humble, modest sense is taken as ‘constricted, small’, thus ‘get
smaller, shrink’ as overall meaning, which
is broadly similar to that put forward by
Mizukami. MS1995:v2:1304-5; TA1965:689-
94; AS2007:486.
Mnemonic: BE HUMBLE WHEN MOVING IN
WITH GRANDCHILDREN
The Remaining 1130 Characters 491
汰1656 TA Qiu takes meaning to be ‘wash rice’. Another
L1 select, dismiss, view takes original meaning as ‘bathe’, and
‘select by washing’ as extended sense (Gu).
extravagant The sense ‘extravagant’ may be loan use of
‘select’ in place of 1665 (‘big’, ‘extravagant’);
7 strokes alternatively, Qiu notes the view that use of
for ‘extravagant’ may be abbreviated clerical
TŌTA selection script form of which happened to coincide
ōyakeZATA public affair in shape with as a separate graph mean-
SATA tidings, news ing ‘select’. ‘Dismiss’ is an extended sense.
OT1968:561; QX2000:304; GY2008:495,979.
Seal (汏) ; late graph (Shuowen). Has 42
‘water’, and at seal stage was 56 ‘big’ ( Mnemonic: FAT MAN IN WATER IS SELECTED
181 ‘fat’ is later variant) as phonetic with
associated sense seen in one view as ‘select’, AS EXTRAVAGANT: OTHERS DISMISSED
giving ‘put in water and sort out’ (Ogawa);
妥1657 DA occurs from the OBI stage, is assessed by
L1 peace, settled Qiu as a graph that most probably merged
with 918 ‘suspend, hang down’ (occur-
7 strokes rent from bronze stage). On a historical and
cultural note, with regard to the esthetics of
DAKYŌ compromise ‘beauty’ in early Japan, one cannot assume
DATŌ na appropriate – particularly that of male perceptions of
DAKETSU agreement female beauty – that they were similar to
those of the twenty-first century. Women
OBI ; seal ; traditional .The OBI form with pale complexions were favored over
has ‘claw’ 1739 (but here, as sometimes, darker ones, for the paleness of her skin
‘hand’) over 37 ‘woman’, interpreted in suggested she was an aristocrat who spent
one analysis as ‘extend hand and get woman most of her time indoors, whereas the
to sit’, thus giving ‘set at ease, be at ease’ darker complexioned women were assumed
(Ogawa, Gu, Ma). Alternatively, treated as to have spent considerable time in the sun,
namely working in the fields. Presently, all
with (CO; ‘drooping blossoms’ 918: see women who wanted to be noticed applied
also Note below) as phonetic with associat- whitening to their faces (note omoshi-
ed sense ‘delicate and slender and beautiful’, roi – ‘white face’). Blackening of the teeth
thus giving ‘woman’s delicate and slender sometimes accompanied this as a supposed
and beautiful appearance’ (Katō); with this contrast, but one suspects it was primarily
view, ‘peaceful, settled’ could be perhaps be to mask poor teeth (even among aristocratic
regarded as an extended meaning. There is women). OT1968:253; GY2008:465,1081;
also a view among some scholars that the MS1995:v1:22-4; MR2007:473; QX2000:364-5;
upper part of this graph 1657 viz. / , KJ1985:456.
is a miscopying of a ‘grain plant’ 87: that
is, is the same character as 245, which Mnemonic: WOMAN GETS
has a present meaning ‘entrust’ but in earlier
times its meanings included ‘pliant, supple, CLAWED – HARDLY A SIGN OF PEACE
soft’, which clearly relate to ‘peace’ as an ex-
tended meaning (Katō). However, the earlier Or: WOMAN’S CLAWS SETTLE THE MATTER
OBI and seal forms do not seem to support
such an interpretation. Note: , which
492 The Remaining 1130 Characters
唾1658 DA, tsuba(ki) Seal ; late graph (Shuowen). Has 22
L1 saliva, spit ‘mouth’, and 918 ‘hang down,’ as seman-
tic and phonetic, thus ‘saliva’. GY2008:1240;
11 strokes TA1965:1186; OT1968:186.
DAEKI saliva Mnemonic: WHAT HANGS DOWN FROM THE
DAKI spit out, detest MOUTH ? – SALIVA
mayutsubamono tall tale
堕1659 DA stroyed’ or ‘earth mounds of city walls crum-
L1 degenerate, fall ble/fall’; however, neither he nor Shirakawa
treat 隓 as the predecessor of . Alternative-
12 strokes ly, one commentator analyses as 64 ‘earth,
ground’, combined with (CO, ‘shredded
DARAKU depravity sacrificial meat’) as phonetic with associated
DATAI abortion sense ‘crumble’, giving ‘crumble, be destroyed,
DAsuru lapse, degenerate fall’ (Ogawa). Note: is probably the original
way of writing 隓, and this seems entirely
The origins of this graph are in dispute; plausible in terms of the overall development
of the Chinese script. in Kangxi zidian
traditional form: . Several commentators involves a degree of circularity, but in essence
equate with CO 隓 ‘crumble’ (Katō, Gu). The does appear to be treating in effect as =
latter graph, listed in Shuowen, has / 262 隓. KJ1970:416-7; TA1965:544; GY2008:1344;
‘hill’ combined with (see Note below) as MS1995:v2:1402-03; SS1984:561; OT1968:220;
ZY2009:v2:285,v4:1461. Suggest taking the
phonetic with associated sense ‘destroy, be elements as ‘hill’ 262, ‘have, exist’ 423,
and ‘earth, ground’ 64
destroyed’, to give ‘city walls are destroyed’
(Katō); Katō, Tōdō, and Gu consider 隓 to be Mnemonic: EARTH FALLS BUT HILL STILL
the earlier way of writing ; if this is ac-
EXISTS
cepted, it can be said that has its origins in
the seal stage. Not all commentators, though,
regard 隓 as the original way of writing. Mizu-
kami lists 隓, for which he gives the possible
meanings ‘hill with a city built on it is de-
惰1660 DA fall’, giving ‘motivation crumbles’ (Ogawa);
L1 lazy, inert Tōdō prefers to take as ‘the body slumps
down’. The phonetic is alternatively taken with
12 strokes associated sense ‘languid, loose’, giving ‘lan-
guid feeling’ (Katō). These are quite minor dif-
DARYOKU inertia ferences of interpretation, all of which lead to
TAIDA laziness the meaning ‘lazy’. OT1968:382; TA1965:544;
DAKI indolence KJ1970:417. We suggest taking elements as
‘feeling(s)’ , 24 as ‘left hand’, and 209
Seal : a late graph (Shuowen). At seal stage as ‘meat’.
has 164 ‘heart, mind, feelings’, with either
Mnemonic: FEEL LAZY AND EAT MEAT WITH
(CO, ‘cut meat for offering’) (in the case of
the fuller form 憜) or the abbreviated form LEFT HAND
as phonetic with associated sense ‘crumble,
The Remaining 1130 Characters 493
駄1661 DA (Ogawa). Alternatively, Tōdō traces back to a
L1 pack-horse, poor word in early Chinese meaning ‘move/transport
by pulling’. This word was originally written as
quality
, but when horses were used, it came to be
14 strokes written either as or ; later came to be
used for ‘camel’, leaving for ‘load a horse;
DABA pack-horse packhorse’. Pack-horses do not figure promi-
DAmono cheap goods nently in modern Japanese life, but this graph
MUDA waste is still employed, almost always in words with
a negative connotation, as reflected in ‘poor
Seal ( ) ; late graph (later version of quality’. OT1968:1124; TA1965:531.
Shuowen). Has 210 ‘horse’, originally
combined with 56 (‘big’) but later 181 Mnemonic: FAT PACK-HORSE OF POOR
(‘fat’) as phonetic with associated sense
‘stack, pile up’, thus ‘load up a horse’, and QUALITY
by extension ‘load for a horse; pack-horse’
耐1662 TAI, taeru (here meaning ‘hold’), and 1447 (used for
L1 endure, bear some grammatical function words; originally
pictograph of beard) as phonetic with associ-
9 strokes ated sense ‘can, able’, thus overall meaning ‘hold
up, maintain’, and by extension ‘endure, bear’.
TAIKYŪ endurance DJ2009:v2:764; OT1968:286; TA1965:74-9. Sug-
TAIKA fireproof gest taking as ‘rake’.
taegatai unbearable
Mnemonic: CAN ONE BEAR TO TAKE UP RAKE
Seal (耏) ; late graph (Shuowen). Entry
heading in Shuowen has 耏, but also notes IN HAND?
as an alternative form. has 920 ‘hand’
怠1663 TAI, okotaru, namakeru Seal ; a late graph (Shuowen). Has 164
L1 be lazy, neglect ‘heart, feelings’, and 183 (‘stand, platform’) as
phonetic with associated sense ‘become loose/
9 strokes slack’, giving ‘the mind is slack’, and hence ‘lazy,
neglectful’. MS1995:v1:504-05; OT1968:365;
TAIGYŌ go-slow KJ1970:665.
namakemono idler
okotarigachi neglectful Mnemonic: FEEL TOO LAZY TO MOUNT STAND
胎1664 TAI ‘begin’, thus ‘child begins to form inside
L1 womb mother’, and hence ‘fetus; be pregnant’ (Mi-
zukami, Tōdō), or ii] ‘indication, sign’, giving
9 strokes ‘sign of (new) body’, i.e. ‘fetus; be pregnant’
(Ogawa). ‘Womb’ is an extended sense. Mizu-
TAIJI fetus kami lists a proposed bronze equivalent also.
JUTAI conception MS1995:v2:1074-5; TA1965:81; OT1968:819.
TAIBAN placenta
Mnemonic: A WOMB IS A SORT OF FLESHY
Seal . Has 209 ‘flesh, meat’ (here, in the
sense ‘body’), and 183 (‘stand, platform’) PLATFORM
as phonetic with associated sense taken as i]
494 The Remaining 1130 Characters
泰1665 TAI ‘tranquil, calm’ as an extended sense (Ogawa).
L1 calm, serene, big, Thai Yet another meaning put forward for these
three elements is ‘help out/rescue some-
10 strokes one who has fallen into water’ (Shirakawa).
Alternatively, the element here is regarded
TAIZEN composure as phonetic in function with associated sense
ANTAI peace ’emerge, escape’, giving ‘let (something) slip
TAISEI the West, Occident through the fingers in water’ (e.g. rice, when
washing it) or ‘put through sieve’ (Katō).
Seal ; a late graph (Shuowen). Interpreta- Sometimes borrowed on the basis of its sound
tions diverge considerably. In one approach, value – more commonly in older texts – to
taken as 56 ‘big’ (but here representing write TAI ‘Thailand’. Correct interpretation of
‘person [standing]’) combined with ‘both this graph is elusive. GY2008:979; OT1968:566;
hands’ (stylized in block script to ) and SS1984:566; KJ1970:661. We suggest taking
42 in the variant form 氺, Gu interprets the as two males 601, and 氺 as ‘sprinkled
role of the hands as being to sprinkle water, water’
thus giving the overall meaning ‘bathe’. An-
other view treats the same three elements as Mnemonic: TWO (BIG) THAI MALES CALMLY
having a different overall meaning, viz. ‘make
waterway bigger and improve flow’, and takes SPRINKLE WATER – HOW SERENE
堆1666 TAI, uzutakai nese had been written at the seal stage by
L1 pile(d) high borrowing (CO ‘pile’), a graph which is
considered originally (OBI stage) to have
11 strokes been a pictograph representing either a
mound of piled-up earth or alternatively
TAISEKI accumulation, pile the human buttocks. Schuessler suggests a
TAIHI compost, manure possible link between the underlying word
TAISEKI moraine here for ‘mound’ and that represented by
the graph 1806 (‘camp, barracks’) in the
A late, post-Shuowen graph. Has 64 ‘earth, sense ‘hill’. OT1968:218,299; GY2008:1180;
ground’, and 324 (‘short-tailed bird, bird’) AS2007:219,503.
as phonetic with associated sense ‘mound
of piled-up earth’, thus ‘(piece of ) ground Mnemonic: SHORT-TAILED BIRDS ARE PILED
piled up high’ (Ogawa). Gu considers the
underlying word for ‘mound’ in early Chi- ON THE GROUND?!
袋1667 TAI, fukuro Seal ; late graph (later version of Shuowen)
L2 bag, pouch The Shuowen xinfu has as the entry
heading. This has 1232 ‘cloth, fabric’ and
11 strokes
358 (‘replace’) as phonetic with associated
YŪTAI mailbag meaning ‘wrap round, envelop’, giving ‘cloth
YŪTAIRUI marsupial bag for wrapping things in’; is also noted,
tebukuro gloves though, as an alternative way of writing, with
‘garment’ 444 (here in sense ‘cloth’) replac-
ing ‘cloth’ as determinative. OT1968:903;
GY2008:1271; SS1984:567.
Mnemonic: REPLACE BAG OF CLOTHES
The Remaining 1130 Characters 495
逮1668 TAI Seal ; late graph (Shuowen). Has 85 ‘move,
L1 chase, seize go’, and CO ‘catch up with, reach’ (see Note
below) as semantic and phonetic, giving
11 strokes ‘reach, extend to, arrive’. Note: bronze forms of
TAIHO arrest have 2003 ‘hand’ reaching a tail (repre-
TAIHOSHA captor sented by a tail-like shape, taken as an abbrev
TAIHOJŌ arrest warrant of what later was to be written as 1888 ‘tail’.
MS1995:v2:1404-5,v1:406-08; OT1968:1004;
TA1965:748-9. Take as 肀 hand seizing
target, 氺 as (sweat) droplets.
Mnemonic: MOVE IN THE CHASE, SEIZE
TARGET BUT GET SWEATY HANDS
替1669 TAI, kaeru/waru Greater clarity, albeit provisional, is found in
L2 exchange, swap one of these (let us call it ‘form B’) in Shuowen
which has 1048 ‘speak’ instead of ; form B
12 strokes is taken in one view as consisting of ‘speak’,
and as phonetic with associated meaning
DAITAI substitution ‘stop, desist’, giving ‘say “stop/desist” ’, and
RYŌgae money changing by extension ‘change’ (Ogawa). The third seal
torikae swapping form (‘form C’) in Shuowen has beneath
(CO, ‘advance’); this may just have evolved as
Seal form A . A graph made difficult to ana- a popular variant, as is suggested in the 17th
lyse by the fact that while Shuowen has seal century Zhengzitong. Unsurprisingly, the ma-
form A as the entry heading, it also goes on to jority of commentators omit treatment of this
give two other alternative forms; the mean- challenging graph. MS1995:v2:896-7,980-82;
ing given in Shuowen is ‘one side goes down’. DJ2009:v3:841,v2:696; OT1968:479;
Seal form A itself consists of (traditional ZZ1671:v1:551-2. We suggest taking the up-
form of 977 ‘line up’; the top part of is in per part as two ‘males/husbands’ 601, and
error for ) over an element/graph which is
considered to be one which is a homograph as ‘day’ 66.
with ‘white’, i.e. a different graph having the
same shape as 69 ’white’. The seal element/ Mnemonic: ONE DAY, ONE HUSBAND/MALE
graph concerned, corresponding to the lower
part of , namely , ‘is of uncertain meaning. WILL BE SWAPPED FOR ANOTHER
滞1670 TAI, todokōru Seal ; a late graph (Shuowen); traditional
L1 stop, stagnate . Has 42 ‘water’, and 566 (traditional
13 strokes form of ‘belt, obi; wear’) as phonetic with
associated sense ‘stop, stagnate’ (Gu says
TAIZAI sojourn, stay ‘become firm’), giving ‘water stands still’; later
TEITAI stagnation generalized in meaning to ‘stop, stagnate’.
TAINŌ non-payment OT1968:601; KJ1970:715; GY2008:494.
Mnemonic: WATER ON BELT WILL STAGNATE
Or: USE BELT TO STOP WATER STAGNATING
496 The Remaining 1130 Characters
戴1671 TAI, (DAI), itadaku Seal ; late graph (Shuowen). Has 826
L1 receive, accept (‘differ, strange’, originally grotesque mask),
and (CO; ‘cut off, injure’ [variant halberd])
17 strokes as phonetic with associated sense ‘put on top,
block (by piling up)’, to give ‘put grotesque
CHŌDAI receive, please mask on top of face’. Meaning later generalized
itadakimono gift to ‘hold up to the head’, and then senses such
TAIKANSHIKI coronation as ‘respectfully receive (by holding up to head)’.
OT1968:397; KJ1970:663-4; GY2008:1920;
DJ2009:v2:380.
Mnemonic: RECEIVE AND ACCEPT
STRANGELY DIFFERENT HALBERD
滝1672 taki ‘fall’, thus ‘water falling’ (Shirakawa, Katō; Katō
L1 cascade, waterfall also gives meaning ‘rain falling as thick mist’).
In similar vein, Ogawa takes the associated
13 strokes sense as ‘put into’, thus ‘rain falls down into’.
As for the meaning ‘cascade, waterfall’, Katō
kiyotaki clear cascade suggests a word-family link with (CO)
takigawa rapids and/or 1757 (‘drop, drip’). SS1984:916-7;
Kegondaki Kegon Falls KJ1970:930; OT1968:602-03; MS1995:v2:792-3.
OBI ; seal ; traditional . Has ‘water’ Mnemonic: WATER-DRAGON IS IN CAS-
42, and (traditional form of 2081
CADING WATERFALL
‘dragon’) as phonetic with associated sense
択1673 TAKU, erabu Bronze ; seal ; traditional . Has 34
L1 choose, select ‘hand’, and ‘select’ (CO; Gu says ‘scout’; see
Note below) as semantic and phonetic, giving
7 strokes ‘select by hand’. Note: has (here, variant
of 76 ‘eye’), with 295 (‘happiness’) as
SENTAKU choice phonetic with associated sense ‘look for’, thus
SAITAKU adopt, select ‘look over criminals and select’. MS1995:v1:562-
erabidasu single out 3,v2:922-4; KJ1970:94; GY2008:600;
OT1968:403. We suggest taking as 41
‘person’ with backpack.
Mnemonic: PERSON SELECTS HANDY
BACKPACK
沢1674 TAKU, sawa Seal ; a late graph (Shuowen); traditional
L1 swamp, marsh, benefit . Has 42 ‘water’, and (see 1673 Note)
7 strokes as phonetic with associated sense ’entangled/
linked,’ thus ‘land where aquatic plants are
TAKUSAN much, many entangled, where lake and swampy land come
KEITAKU benefits, blessings together’, i.e. ‘swamp, marsh’. It is unclear as to
sawaCHI swampland, bog how it acquired the meaning ‘benefit’, but pos-
sibly through ‘much [water]’. At one stage it also
The Remaining 1130 Characters 497
had a meaning ‘glisten’, which appears to have Mnemonic: PERSON CARRIES BACKPACK
been a loan usage. OT1968:561 MS1995:v2:784-5; THROUGH WATERS OF MARSH
KJ1970:95. As with 1673, we suggest taking
as 41 ‘person’ with backpack.
卓1675 TAKU association ‘lame’ is based on a regional dialect
L1 table, excel, high form in early Chinese. Accordingly, in another
analysis the top element is interpreted simply
8 strokes as 41 ‘person’, and is taken as phonetic
with associated sense of ‘jump up (high)’, thus
SHOKUTAKU dining table giving ‘someone who is by far the best/out-
TAKKYŪ table tennis standing’ (Ogawa, Tōdō). A note of caution is
TAKUETSU excellence sounded by Qiu, who considers that as yet it is
not possible to explain the structural compo-
Bronze ; seal . Interpretations vary. In one sition of this graph. In the meantime, ‘table’
view, the top element is taken as representing is probably best regarded as a loan usage.
a person with a withered leg, combined with KJ1970:675; MS1995:v1:168-9; OT1968:139;
52 (‘quick, early’) as phonetic with associated TA1965:247-8; QX2000:96. We suggest taking
sense ‘lame, cripple’, giving overall meaning of the upper element of this graph, , as ‘cracks’
‘lame, cripple’, and by extension ‘high’ on the
basis of one side of the person’s body being 96, and 52 ‘early’.
higher than the other (Katō). The basis on the
shape for taking the top element as ‘lame, crip- Mnemonic: EXCELLENT HIGH-TABLE
ple’ seems quite tenuous, and in addition –
according to Mizukami – the proposed word CRACKED AT EARLY STAGE
拓1676 TAKU in one place’, giving ‘gather things together
L1 reclaim, clear, rub in one place’ (Tōdō), or iii] ‘split open’, giving
‘cut open’, with ‘open up, reclaim’ treated as
8 strokes an extended sense (Ogawa). The first two
commentators, by contrast, consider ‘open
KAITAKU reclamation up, reclaim’ to be a loan usage. The minor
TAKUSHOKU colonizing meaning ‘rub’ may be extended from ‘clear’.
GYOTAKU fish print KJ1970:613; TA1965:325-30; OT1968:408.
Seal ; a late graph (Shuowen). Has 34 Mnemonic: HAND CLEARS STONES FROM
‘hand’, and 47 (‘stone’) as phonetic with
associated sense taken as i] ‘pick up’, giving RECLAIMED LAND
‘pick up with the hand’ (Katō), or ii] ‘gather
託1677 TAKU Seal ; a late graph (Shuowen). Has 118
L1 request, commit, ‘words; speak’, and 乇 (CO; ‘plant seedling’
[originally, pictograph of a tiny plant with stem
entrust having emerged up through the ground, and
root below]) as phonetic with associated sense
10 strokes ‘put together, gather together’, giving ‘make re-
quest’. ‘Entrust’ is considered to be an extended
ITAKU trust, commission sense. OT1968:921; GY2008:35; TA1965:330. We
TAKUSEN oracle suggest taking 乇 as ‘seven’ 32, plus top.
TAKUSŌ consignment
Mnemonic: COMMITTED SEVEN TOP WORDS
TO ENTRUSTED REQUEST
498 The Remaining 1130 Characters
濯1678 TAKU Bronze ; seal ; traditional . Has
L2 wash, rinse 42 ‘water’, and (CO ‘pheasant’, from 82
‘wings’ and 324 ‘bird’) as phonetic with as-
17 strokes sociated sense taken as i] ‘hit, beat’, giving
‘beat fabric immersed in water’ (Ogawa), or
SENTAKU washing ii] ‘pull out; excel’, giving ‘wash garments (or
SENTAKUKI washing machine similar) by quickly pulling out of water’ (Mi-
SENTAKUmono laundry zukami, Tōdō); thus, ‘wash, rinse’. OT1968:612;
MS1995:v2:786-7; GY2008:1770; TA1965:786-7.
Mnemonic: BIRD WASHES WINGS IN WATER
諾1679 DAKU ‘agree’ the determinative 118 ‘words,
L1 consent, agree speak’ was added, thus . Depending on
approach taken, has been taken in one
15 strokes view as with ‘follow’ as semantic and
phonetic (Ogawa), or alternatively as with
JUDAKU acceptance
SHŌDAKU consent just as phonetic with associated sense
KAIDAKU ready consent ‘soft, pliant’ (Mizukami, Katō), either way giv-
ing ‘agree’. Mizukami also lists proposed OBI
Bronze ( ) ; seal ( ) . Originally writ- form. MS1995:v2:1208-9; 1112-3; KJ1970:676;
ten as 896 (‘young’), i.e. initially was OT1968:935; AS2007:447-8; TA1965:357-8.
used to write words for both ‘young’ and
‘agree’ (near-homophones in early Chinese). Mnemonic: AGREE WITH YOUNGSTER’S
As this graph was later borrowed for other
words too, to indicate clearly the meaning WORDS, SO CONSENT
濁1680 DAKU, nigoru/su Shuowen, taking as original meaning river
L1 impure, turbid, voiced name, but Katō sees ‘dirty water’ as probable
original meaning, later used to refer to dirty
16 strokes river. Note: , originally in OBI as , showing
insect with large eyes ( 76) and long body
DAKURYŪ turbid stream ( ); at bronze stage, 60 ‘insect’ was added
DAKUON voiced sound as determinative. MS1995:v2:782-3, 1148-9;
nigorie muddy creek KJ1970:741; OT1968:610; GY2008:93.
Seal . Has 42 ‘water’, and (‘caterpillar; Mnemonic: TURBID WATER, FULL OF LONG
Shu [name of ancient Chinese state]’; see Note
below) as phonetic with associated sense ‘dirty, BODIED INSECTS WITH BIG EYES
polluted’, thus ‘dirty water’. Ogawa follows
但1681 tadashi, TAN Also used in early Chinese for some words
L2 but, however of abstract meaning such as ‘only’ and ‘but’,
probably loaned for its sound value, though
7 strokes Katō sees ‘only’ as extended sense based on
use in senses such as ‘empty’ and ‘have noth-
tadashigaki proviso ing’. MS1995:v1:56-7,608-9; TA1965:534-5;
tadashizuki (on) condition GY2008:451; OT1968:54; WD1974:204-5.
Tajima* place name
Mnemonic: PERSON UP AT DAWN: HOWEVER
Seal . Has 41 ‘person’, and 1687 (‘dawn’)
as phonetic with associated sense ‘appear … HE’S NAKED!!
on outside, expose the hidden’ > ‘show flesh’.
The Remaining 1130 Characters 499
The words you are searching are inside this book. To get more targeted content, please make full-text search by clicking here.
Home
Explore
The Complete Guide to Japanese Kanji_ (JLPT All Levels) Remembering and Understanding the 2136 Standard Characters
View in Fullscreen
The Complete Guide to Japanese Kanji_ (JLPT All Levels) Remembering and Understanding the 2136 Standard Characters
Discover the best professional documents and content resources in AnyFlip Document Base.
Search
The Complete Guide to Japanese Kanji_ (JLPT All Levels) Remembering and Understanding the 2136 Standard Characters
- 1 - 50
- 51 - 100
- 101 - 150
- 151 - 200
- 201 - 250
- 251 - 300
- 301 - 350
- 351 - 400
- 401 - 450
- 451 - 500
- 501 - 550
- 551 - 600
- 601 - 650
- 651 - 700
- 701 - 705
Pages: