480531170

893
L1
射
SHA, iru
shoot
10 strokes
CHŪSHAKIsyringe
itaosushoot down
SHAGEKIJŌrifle range
OBI ; seal . OBI and bronze forms show an
arrow positioned in a bow, ready for shooting,
in some occurrences with a hand added also,
giving ‘shoot an arrow’. The seal form, on the
other hand, has 339 ‘body’ instead of a pictographic
element for ‘bow’. The change, which
is difficult to explain satisfactorily, appears to
be the result of error at the seal form stage.
The substituted element ‘body’ combines
894
捨
SHA, suteru
abandon
L1
11 strokes
KISHAcharity
sutegofoundling
uteokuleave alone
Seal ; late graph (Shuowen); bronze () ;
traditional . Has 34 ‘hand’, and 727
895
L1
尺
SHAKU, SEKI
measure, foot
4 strokes
SHAKUDOscale, gauge
SHAKUHACHIflute
SEKICHIstrip of land
Seal . Lower part represents thumb spread
out from the four fingers to make span of a
hand, which was used as a basic measuring
896
若
JAKU, wakai, moshi
young, if
L3
8 strokes
JAKUNENyouth
wakamonoyouth
moshikuwaor else
OBI ( ) ; seal . Views diverge. OBI form
has just a raised pair of hands, and an element
taken as dishevelled hair, together interpreted
as meaning a shamaness dancing while shaking
her hair wildly. Seal form on has 22 ‘mouth,
speak’ added to , which itself reflects the origi-
with 920 ‘measure’, which was originally a
pictograph of a hand. YK1976:239; OT1968:287;
MS1995:v2:932-3,1264-5,v1:466-7; KJ1970:581-
2. In terms of historical accuracy it should be
noted that, while the sword seems to have
acquired a glamor of sorts, it was nowhere near
as efficient as projectile weapons. Before the
development of gunpowder-based projectile
weapons (around the 9th century in China, later
elsewhere) the bow and arrow were preferred
overwhelmingly over the sword around the
world. Even the samurai with their ‘state of
the art swords’ were killed mostly by arrow, as
recent archeological findings have indicated.
Mnemonic: HAND SHOOTS MEASURED AR-
ROW INTO BODY
(‘house’, orig probably ‘breathe lightly’ > ‘place
to relax’) as phonetic with associated sense
‘let go, release’ > ‘discard, cast aside’; ‘hand’
was added to indicate clearly the meaning
‘abandon’. YK1976:239-40; OT1968:418;
MS1995:v2:1096-7; QX2000:356; KJ1970:491.
Mnemonic: FIND ABANDONED HAND IN
ONE’S HOUSE!
device. Upper part, distorted, represents part
of arm (Yamada and Katō say elbow). Later
used as unit of measure, approx 30 cm (larger
than handspan), and by extension ‘measure’.
Mizukami lists bronze form. YK1976:240-41;
OT1968:294; MS1995:v1:406-7; KJ1970:580.
Suggest ‘topless’ door 120 and prop .
Mnemonic: MEASURE PROP FOR FOOT OF
TOPLESS DOOR
nal pair of raised hands having been changed
to (misinterpreted as) 53 ‘vegetation’. One
view takes as ‘speak’, with as phonetic
with associated sense ‘soft, weak, supple’, giving
‘speak in compliant/submissive manner’ (Katō,
Yamada). Another view treats instead as
‘vegetation’ with 2 (‘right’) in its original sense
‘hand’, giving ‘pick soft young leaves’ (Tōdō). Both
views are noted by Mizukami. ‘If’ is a loan usage.
YK1976:242; MS1995:v2:1112-3; OT1968:176;
KJ1970:676,498.
Mnemonic: PLANTS ON RIGHT ARE YOUNG
The 181 Sixth Grade Characters 277