480531170

709
L3
採
SAI, toru
take, gather
11 strokes
SAIYŌadoption
SAISHŪcollection
SAISHUharvesting
No early form for , but there is for its predecessor,
/ , viz seal (Shuowen). Has
1739 ‘hand, claw’ in its abbreviated form ,
over 73 ‘tree’, to give ‘pick fruit from tree’.
Later generalized to ‘take, gather’ (non-specific),
and a second determinative for ‘hand’, this time
34, was added for further clarity. YK1976:197;
SS1984:337; QX2000:188.
Mnemonic: GATHER FRUIT FROM TREE WITH
TWO HANDS
710
L3
際
SAI, kiwa
occasion, edge, contact
14 strokes
JISSAIactuality
KOKUSAIinternational
madogiwaby the window
Seal ; late graph (Shuowen). Has 1907 ‘hill,
mound’, with 299 (originally ‘present meat
and wine to the gods’, now ‘festival’) as phonetic
with associated sense ‘come together, encounter’,
to give the point where two walls [of earth
mounded up] join (or Ogawa takes as ‘where
hills come together’). By extension, senses such
as ‘edge’, ‘contact, come together’. KJ1970:425;
YK1976:200; OT1968:1074; MS1995:v2:948-9.
Mnemonic: FESTIVAL AT EDGE OF HILL IS
QUITE AN OCCASION
711
L3
在
6
ZAI, aru
dwell, be located,
countryside
strokes
ZAINICHIliving in Japan
SONZAIexistence
ZAISHOold country home
Bronze ; seal . The OBI form for (now
meaning ‘talent’, original meaning possibly
‘blocked river’ – see 139) is taken by Mizukami
and Katō as the original way of writing
also, with 64 ‘earth, ground’ being
712
財
ZAI, SAI
wealth, assets
L3
10 strokes
ZAISANwealth
ZAIDANfinancial body
ZAISEIfinances
added later (bronze stage onwards) for clarity.
Yamada generally agrees, and posits ‘exist’ as
an extended meaning on the basis of earth
and other material blocking the river, damming
its movement, and hence just staying
or being in the one place. It is not clear how
the meaning ‘countryside’ came to be associated
with , but this is now just a very minor
sense. MS1995:v1:264-5,548-9; KJ1970:421;
YK1976:200. Difficult mnemonically for : we
suggest taking it literally as ‘oddly shaped dam’.
Mnemonic: ODD EARTHERN DAM LOCATED
NEAR COUNTRYSIDE DWELLING
Seal ; late graph (Shuowen). Has 10 ‘shell,
shell currency, money’, and 139 (‘talent’) as
phonetic with associated sense ‘accumulate’,
to give ‘accumulate currency’; by extension,
‘accumulate valuables (in general)’, ‘wealth
(which has been accumulated)’. KJ1970:422;
YK1976:201; OT1968:953.
Mnemonic: TALENT FOR MONEY-MATTERS
LEADS TO WEALTH
228 The 185 Fifth Grade Characters