480531170

458
L3
改
KAI, aratameru/maru
reform
7 strokes
KAIKAKUreform
KAISEIamendment
aratameteonce again
OBI ; seal . Has / 112 ‘strike with stick/
whip’, and a left-hand component which in OBI
and bronze is equivalent to the NJK , originally
a pictograph of a snake or fetus, but later
changed to (NJK; ‘stop; already’), and then to
866 (‘twisted thread; self’); the authoritative
Kangxi zidian (Peking Palace printed edition)
has what seems the etymologically incorrect
form with (). Japanese scholars typically
interpret the graph as 112, ‘hand holding
stick’, with as a phonetic with an associated
sense ‘demon’, to give ‘drive out demons’,
a ritual practiced in ancient China around the
end of one season to usher in the next season.
Thus meanings such as ‘change’ in general, and
‘reform’ are extended usages. However, several
Chinese scholars, as noted by Ma, analyze it
instead as a person chastising a child (in OBI
script, some occurrences of and 27 ‘child’
are extremely similar in shape). In either case
‘change, reform’ is still seen as extended usage.
Note: the graph is still used in the context
of Chinese and Japanese culture in its original
meaning of ‘snake’ as the sixth of the ‘Twelve
Branches’, to indicate hours of the day etc..
KJ170:151-2; KZ2001:998/3671; YK1976:88-9;
OT1968:435; SS1984:87-8; MR2007:280-81;
QX2000:326. We give two suggested mnemonics
below, one based on as snake, the other
taking the same form as ‘self’ (in the latter
case taking in one of its extended meanings,
‘force/coerce’).
Mnemonic: BEAT A SNAKE TO MAKE IT REFORM
Or: FORCE ONESELF TO REFORM
459
械
KAI
device
L3
11 strokes
KIKAIapparatus
KIKAImachine
KIKAIKAmechanization
Seal ; a late graph (Shuowen). Has 73
‘tree, wood’, and 1095 (‘warn, admonish’
qv) functioning here either semantically to
mean ‘admonish’, to give an overall meaning of
‘wooden item used to admonish’, i.e. handcuffs
or shackles, or phonetically with an associated
sense of ‘device, tool’, to give ‘wooden device/
tool’. The latter sense may be regarded as a
generalised meaning based on the former.
KJ1970:147; YK1976:90; OT1968:506. Again we
suggest two mnemonics, one using as it
stands, with its meaning of ‘admonish,’ and one
breaking it down to its component parts:
545 ‘halberd’ with indicating two hands.
Mnemonic: WOODEN DEVICE FOR ADMONISHING
Or: A TWO-HANDED WOODEN HALBERD IS A
USEFUL DEVICE
460
L3
害
GAI
harm, damage
10 strokes
SONGAIdamage, loss
SATSUGAImurder
BŌGAIobstruction
Bronze ; seal . Bronze form is taken in one
view as an inverted basket, with 121 (original
meaning ‘skull’) as phonetic. Mizukami lists two
interpretations for the associated sense of :
firstly, ‘something to put on from on top’, or ‘stop,
prevent’, to give overall meaning ‘put something
over’, or ‘cover and prevent’. Alternatively, Katō
and Yamada take in a semantic function as
‘helmet/cap/head’ (‘head’ is an extended sense
from ‘skull’), to give resultant meaning ‘cover the
head’. ‘Harm, damage’ is treated as a loan usage.
MS1995:v1:372-4; YK1976:93; KJ1970:154-5. We
suggest taking 30 as ‘cover’, 22 ‘mouth, and
as variant of 44 ‘life’.
Mnemonic: COVERING LIVE MOUTH CAN
CAUSE HARM
The 200 Fourth Grade Characters 159