211 The Kanji 代貸袋

This short post is in respose to a reader’s request to discuss the kanji 代. The kanji 代 “to change; instead; time; generation; substitute” There is no writing earlier than seal style in any of the three kanji that contain 弋. What it originated from is not clear, but it was used phonetically for /tai/…

171 The Kanji 則側測賊 and 墳噴憤 – 貝(4)

This is the fourth posting on kanji that contain the shape 貝. In the first two postings, we explored the shape 貝 related to a “cowrie” that signified “money; value.” In the third posting, we explored the shape 貝 related to a “three-legged bronze vessel.” In this posting, we are continuing with a three-legged bronze…

150 The Kanji 識職織矛務霧 – 戈 “halberd” (5)

In this last post on the kanji that contain 戈 “halberd,” we are going to look at the kanji 識職織・矛務霧. The kanji 識 “to recognize; knowledge; mark” For the kanji 識, Setsumon Kaiji explained that it meant “constant” and “to know.” Shirakawa added that something that was always visible was a “flag” or “mark; sign.”…

149 The Kanji 桟箋浅残銭践・載戴裁栽繊-戈halberd (4)

This is the fourth post on the kanji that contain 戈 “halberd.” The first six kanji in this post, 桟箋浅残銭践, shared the same origin 戔. The seal-style writing, in red, shown on the right side had two halberds, one on top of the other. It had two different meanings: one was to hurt a person…

148 The kanji戦賊蔵歳戯賦・幾機畿- 戈 “halberd” (3)

This is the third post on kanji that contain the shape. We are going to look at 戦賊蔵歳戯武賦 and 幾機畿. The kanji 戦 “battle; to fight” The kanji 戦 is comprised of two components, each of which is also the kanji — 単 and 戈.  So, let us look at the kanji 単 first. The…

147 The Kanji 義儀犠感減威滅 –戈 “halberd” (2)

This is the second post on kanji that contain 戈 “halberd/battle-axe/broad-blade axe.” We are going to look at the kanji 義儀犠威戚感滅. There are a number of kanji that originated from a halberd, including 我 戉 and 戊. In the past, any kanji that had 戈 was put in more or less a single bag of…

144 The Kanji 戈戒械成城誠伐閥我-戈 “halberd” (1)

Last several posts, we have been exploring kanji that originated from a sharp-edged object. We have looked at kanji that have 刀刂王士斤刃 and 召.  In this and the next few posts, we are going to look at kanji that originated from戈 “halberd.” The shape 戈 appears as a component in a surprisingly large number of…

143 The Kanji 召招紹詔昭照沼−召

In searching for clues about what kanji originated from, the oldest style, oracle bone style, is the most important. Carving lines on a small piece of bone could create some ambiguous shapes. The shape for “person” (人) and “knife; sword” (刀) is in that category. To show you how difficult it is to interpret the…

88 The Kanji 国(國)或域惑図(圖)園遠 -くにがまえ(1)

In this post and the next, we are going to look at kanji that have a bushu kunigamae (囗) “an enclosure; boundary” and other related kanji. 1 The Kanji 国 (國) “country” The kanji 国 has the kyujitai 國. The inside of the kyuji is 或. 或 appeared in other Joyo kanji such as 或…

Previous Posts and Search

To read an article older than 16 posts or so, please click the link in green with kanji. There is also a “search” feature on the top of the sidebar. In the posts, the color of the writing indicates its style as follows: ANCIENT WRITING (古代文字): Oracle bone style 甲骨文  in BROWN; Bronze ware style…

52 The Kanji 男 and 田力甥舅虜勇湧- 力 “power” (1)

In the last two posts, we looked at the kanji that were related to 女 “woman.” What about the kanji that are related to man? Unlike 女 “woman,” the kanji for “man” was not a single pictographic writing but a semantic composite of 田 “rice paddies” and 力 “power; strength.” So in order to understand…

27 Two hands from below (2): 算戒械弁and 葬鼻升昇 -“hand” (7)

We have seen previously that two hands from below created a two-stroke ハ shape that was present in 共供興兵具 (and 異.)  In this post we are going to see another shape that came from two hands from below: it is a three-stroke shape at the bottom of 算戒械弁. The shape is called /niju’uashi/ “two-ten bottom”…

16 Eyes Wide Open (3) 臣, 臨, 覧, 緊, 蔵, and 臓

How could the kanji 臣 be related to an eye? Do you wonder? I did, when I first read about it years ago. But once I realized that it was a wide open big eye in a face seen from the side, it became fun to look for kanji that contain 臣. Here are six…

The 90 Kanji Bushu (部首 Video Clips)

Bushu: The Kanji Makers – From Images to Shapes (Video Clips) This page is for a collection of 91 video clips called “Bushu: The Kanji Makers – From Images to Shapes” that used to be available on American University iTunes-U. (Apple discontinued the iTunes-U site worldwide in 2022.) Bushu was devised as a dictionary indexing…