480531170

(original Peking Palace woodblock edition, not
the modern version) has not this but the slightly
different form 查 . Etymologically speaking,
appears to be correct, and is standard usage
in modern Japanese, but 查 is standard in PRC
Chinese. KJ1970:415; YK1976:193; OT1968:498;
ZY2009:v2:498; KZ2001:1112/3671. We suggest
taking the elements as ‘tree/wood’ and
‘cairn’.
Mnemonic: INVESTIGATE A CAIRN UNDER A
TREE
Or: FURTHERMORE, INVESTIGATE A TREE
706
再
SAI, SA, futatabi
again, twice, re-
L3
6 strokes
SAISEIregeneration
SAIKANreprint
SARAINENyear after next
OBI ; seal . This graph is generally taken
as consisting of a lower bamboo basket (as in
the lower part of – see 701 and 703), and a
horizontal stroke on top to represent a flat
base for placing an upper basket (a second
basket). Hence, the extended meanings ‘sec-
ond, twice’ (Katō, Yamada, Ogawa). Katō alone
considers this graph did not exist independently
at the OBI or bronze stage. Gu looks to
recognize independent status for from OBI
onwards, but makes a quite different interpretation
as representing two fish being carried.
MS1995:v1:108-9; KJ1970:550; YK1976:195;
OT1968:100; GY2008:232. We suggest taking
the graph as a pictograph of exactly what it is –
an upturned basket.
Mnemonic: UPTURNED BASKET WITH FLAT
BOARD TO ADD A BASKET AGAIN
707
L1
災
SAI, wazawai
calamity
7 strokes
SAINANcalamity
SAIGAIdisaster
KASAIconflagration
OBI , ; seal , . The block script form
() does not represent the mainstream development
for this graph, and so firstly the main
historical forms will be described. The first OBI
form for above is taken to correspond to the
seal form 烖 , which is analyzed as 8 ‘fire’, with
(variant of halberd – see e.g. 545) as phonetic
with associated sense ‘harm, injure’ (Mizukami,
Katō, Yamada: Mizukami also lists ‘stop’ as an
alternative sense), to give ‘damage/disaster by
fire’. The second OBI (corresponding seal form
also) is , which has 30 ‘roof, building’ over
‘fire’, to represent ‘house/building fire’. The
more familiar modern form is based on
another form noted in Shuowen, which has
(‘blocked river overflows’) over , with the
upper element subsequently changed to
(‘river current’); resultant overall meaning is
‘calamity, disaster’. SS1984:335; MS1995:v2:800-
02,v1:422-4; KJ1970:422; YK1976:196.
Mnemonic: FIRE AND FLOWING RIVER ARE
POTENTIAL CALAMITIES
708
妻
SAI, tsuma
wife
L3
8 strokes
GOSAIsecond wife
FUSAIhusband and wife
hitozumamarried woman
Seal ; late graph (Shuowen). Has 37
‘woman’, and upper part taken as hand holding
three hairpins or broom (see 106, 800).
MS1995:v1:320-21; YK1976:196; SS1984:336.
Mnemonic: WOMAN HOLDING BROOM IS
WIFE
The 185 Fifth Grade Characters 227