SE, yo
world, generation
5 strokes
世紀 SEIKI century
世話 SEWA care
世の中 yononaka world at large
Bronze ; seal . Generally taken as the graph for ‘thirty’ (the ‘ten’ graph 十 35 written three times in a slightly modified way), on the basis that about thirty years made up one generation. Qiu, though, considers the early Zhou bronze form of 世 ‘clearly was simply the top part of 䭚’, which was the original way of writing 葉 428 ‘leaf’; as both Qiu and Katō note, 葉 also had the meaning ‘generation’ (Qiu links with the fact that leaves grow out once a year). In similar vein, Shirakawa takes as originally depicting plants growing. ‘The world, society’ is an extended usage. MS1995:v1:10-11, v2:1126-7; KJ1970:50-51; YK1976:295; QX2000:182; SS1984:492. Suggest take the two lower laterals as ‘two’ 二 65.
Mnemonic: THE ODD WORLD OF THE GENERATION OF ’32
345
L3
整
SEI, totonou/eru
arrange
16 strokes
整理 SEIRI arrangement
整備 SEIBI maintenance
微調整 BICHŌSEI fine tuning
Bronze ; seal . Has 敕 (a variant of 勅 1727 ‘edict’ qv), which in itself has a meaning of ‘arrange properly’, and 正 43 (‘correct’) as phonetic with similar associated sense ‘put in order, arrange’; in Tōdō’s word-family ‘bring together/arrange in one place’. MS1995:v1:586-7; KJ1970:584; YK1976:306; TA1965:472-4.
Mnemonic: EDICT ENFORCES CORRECT ARRANGEMENT
346
L3
昔
SEKI, SHAKU, mukashi
olden times, past
8 strokes
昔日 SEKIJITSU old days
昔風 mukashiFŪ old-style
今昔 KONJAKU past and present
OBI ; seal . Etymology disputed. Katō and Tōdō treat as 日 66 ‘day(s)’, with as phonetic meaning ‘pile up’. In Tōdō’s word-family ‘pile up, accumulate’. Thus ‘accumulated days’. Ma takes it as originally showing a flood; Shirakawa considers it originally to show dried meat, with sunlight used to dry; for both Ma and Shirakawa, the sense of ‘passing time’ is loan usage. KJ1970:614-5; TA1965:364-7; MR2007:354; SS1984:505; JA2000:437. Suggest the upper part as two ‘tens’ 十 35 and ‘one’ 一 1.
Mnemonic: TWENTY-ONE DAYS AGO IS THE PAST
347
L3
全
ZEN, mattaku
whole, complete
6 strokes
全部 ZENBU all
全身 ZENSHIN whole body
安全 ANZEN safety
Seal forms , . Generally taken as 王 5 ‘king’ or 工 125 ‘work’ standing for 玉 15 (‘jewel, jade, precious stone’), and 入 67 (‘enter’), here as phonetic with associated sense ‘beautiful, good’, giving overall meaning of ‘beautiful/unblemished jade or precious stone’, and by extension ‘complete’. KJ1970:637; MS1995:v1:98-9; YK1976:320-21.
Mnemonic: THE KING IS COMPLETE WITH HIS CAP
348
L3
相
SŌ, SHŌ, ai-
mutual, aspect, minister
9 strokes
相談 SŌDAN discussion
相手 aite other party
首相 SHUSHŌ Prime Minister
OBI ; bronze . Either taken as 目 76 ‘eye’, with 木 73 ‘tree’ (Qiu, Shirakawa), or 目 with 桑 1632 ‘mulberry’ (Mizukami, Katō, Ogawa, Yamada). Former view gives overall meaning of ‘look at/examine a tree’, and more generally ‘look/examine’; the latter takes 木 as standing for 桑 on the basis of historical Chinese sound correspondences, taking the latter as phonetic with associated sense ‘see (clearly) right inside’. Other meanings such as ‘mutual’, ‘help’, ‘minister’ may be seen as loan usages. QX2000:192, 215-6; SS1984:540; MS1995:v2:916-7; KJ1970:428-9; OT1968:696; YK1976:327; AS2007:531, 450.
Mnemonic: MINISTER EYES TREE, TREE EYES MINISTER – IT’S MUTUAL
349
L4
送
SŌ, okuru
send
9 strokes
放送 HŌSŌ broadcast
送金 SŌKIN remittance
見送る miokuru see off
Bronze forms , ; seal ; traditional 送. Has 辶 85 ‘go, walk’, and / . Top right element of seal is properly not 火 8 ‘fire’ (miscopied at seal script stage) but ‘pestle’ (seen in bronze), with associated sense ‘continue’ (Katō, Yamada) or ‘push’ (Mizukami). Original meaning of graph: ‘walk behind along a road, or follow behind husband’; ‘send’ is an extended sense. Suggest take right side as 70 ‘eight’, but here in its meaning of ‘out’, and 天 62 ‘heaven’. MS1995:v2:1288-9; KJ1970:644; YK1976:326-7.
Mnemonic: SENT OUT OF HEAVEN!
350
L3
想
SŌ, SO
idea, thought
13 strokes
着想 CHAKUSŌ concept
理想 RISŌ ideal
愛想 AISO/AISŌ
