480531170

869
L1
后
6
KŌ, GO, kisaki
empress, queen,
behind, later
strokes
KŌGŌ*empress, queen
KŌHIempress, queen
BOKŌempress dowager
OBI , ; seal . Note there is in seal script
a mirror image of this right-facing graph,
namely 524 (‘official’) which faces left. is
generally taken as variant of 256 ‘person in
bent posture/crouching/squatting’ (here, not
‘corpse’), with 22 ‘opening’ (i.e. ‘anus’) as both
870
孝
KŌ
filial piety
L1
7 strokes
KŌSHIdutiful child
KŌKŌfilial piety
FUKŌfilial impiety
Bronze ; seal Has 638, originally showing
old person bent over, with long hair, thus meaning
’old person’, and 27 ‘child’. Views differ as
871
皇
KŌ, Ō
emperor
L1
9 strokes
TENNŌ*emperor
KŌSHITSUimperial family
KŌTAISHIcrown prince
Bronze ; seal . Views vary. One takes upper
element as originally depicting a ritual mask
(Yamada says mask later changed to type of
cap) worn to ward off evil spirits, together with
a lower element originally believed to represent
‘stand’/‘platform’. This latter element (written
from seal script on) is taken by Yamada as
872
L3
紅
KŌ, KU, kurenai, beni
rouge, crimson
9 strokes
KŌYŌred leaves
SHINKUcrimson
KŌCHAbrown/black tea
Seal ; late graph (Shuowen). Has 29 ‘silk
thread, thread’, and 125 (originally a type
semantic and phonetic (Yamada, Tōdō, Ogawa).
Katō says ‘anus’ became a generalized ‘behind’.
Schuessler sets up two words in early Chinese
as near-homophones, one meaning ‘behind,
after’, the other meaning ‘lord, queen’. Even
bearing in mind the vagaries of the loan graph
principle, the use of (orig. ‘anus’) for ‘empress,
queen’ seems surprising, if not puzzling.
An explanation may be that the original meaning
was forgotten. KJ1970:456-7; YK1976:176;
MS1995:v1:212-3; TA1965:302-5; OT1968:166;
AS2007:279-80.
Mnemonic: EMPRESS FOLLOWS BEHIND
to whether is semantic or phonetic here, but
either way overall sense is same, i.e. ‘child makes
efforts for old person/parents and ancestors’.
Yamada alone gives different early forms for
, and so instead of treats 丂 130 (‘floating
plant’) as phonetic with associated sense ‘bend’.
MS1995:v1:350-51; KJ1970:892-3; OT1968:266;
TA1965:226-7; GY2008:373; YK1976:177.
Mnemonic: CHILD SHOWS FILIAL PIETY TO
OLD PERSON
phonetic with associated sense ‘big’, thus ‘big
ritual mask/cap’; Mizukami broadly agrees, but
does not mention ‘cap’, instead proposing ‘major
deity’ as alternative sense to ‘big ritual mask’.
Ogawa’s approach is different, taking the graph
as light from flames, burning on stand, meaning
‘shine’ (later ). Tōdō looks to identify upper element
as 150 (‘nose’; ‘self’), but older (pre-seal)
forms do not support this view. ‘Ruler’ is a loan
usage. YK1976:180; MS1995:v2:898-9,1086-7;
OT1968:687; TA1965:413-5. Suggest taking as
‘white’ 69, and as ‘king’ 5.
Mnemonic: EMPEROR IS WHITE KING
of tool, probably an ax-head, also ‘work’) as
phonetic with associated sense ‘pink’. Qiu
suggests etymology of is more complex,
indicating diversity of opinion over etymology.
Schuessler notes meanings as including ‘pink’
and ‘red’. Note that colour spectrum is divided
arbitrarily in different languages. YK1976:180-
81; QX2000:306; AS2007:278.
Mnemonic: WORK WITH CRIMSON THREADS
The 181 Sixth Grade Characters 271