480531170

2000
L2
埋
10
MAI,
u[zu]maru/mo[re]ru
bury
strokes
MAISŌburial
umetateland reclamation
umoregifossil wood
OBI ; seal ( 薶 ) ; the form is late (postseal).
OBI form has 108 ‘ox, cow’ (or occasionally
19 ‘dog’), above (here) ‘hole
dug’, typically accompanied also by some
short vertical strokes, which in one view
represent ‘underground spring’; overall meaning
is taken to be ‘hide beneath vegetation’,
with ‘bury’ as an extended sense (Mizukami).
The scenario of an ox hiding in this way is
not really convincing (though a dog might
seem more possible). There is an alternative
interpretation. This involves treating an ox be-
2001
L1
膜
MAKU
membrane
14 strokes
KOMAKUeardrum
MŌMAKUretina
MAKUSHITSUmembranous
Seal ; a late graph (Shuowen). Consists of
209 ‘flesh, meat; body’, with (original
way of writing 982 ‘sunset’) as phonetic
with associated sense ‘envelop’ (Shirakawa
says ‘curtain, covering’), giving ‘that bodily
ing buried as an ancient ritual; likewise giving
‘bury’ as an extended sense (Gu, Shirakawa).
Shirakawa takes (‘badger’, NJK) here as
phonetic with associated sense ‘bury’. We
find examples of (appears to have as
phonetic abbreviated to with associated
sense ‘bury’, combined with 64 ‘earth,
ground’ as determinative) in clerical script
onwards. Kangxi zidian gives equal status
to both 薶 and , listing both as separate
entries. The earliest Jōyō kanji List, which
appeared in 1923, has . MS1995:v2:1136-7;
KZ2001:2353/3671,448/3671; GY2008:985;
SS1984:810; KJ1970:761; Sk1984:172. We
suggest taking the modern form as 238
‘village’ and 64 ‘earth’.
Mnemonic: VILLAGE BURIED IN EARTH
Or: BURY ME IN THE EARTH OF MY VILLAGE
(– WHEN I’M DEAD!)
component which envelops’, referring in
this case not to skin itself but ‘membrane’.
KJ1970:775; OT1968:826; SS1984:810. We
suggest two mnemonics, one taking as
‘sunset’ (this time with only one sun, as originally)
and the other by its elements. In the
latter case, we suggest taking as ‘big’ 56,
as ‘sun’ 66, and ‘grass’ 53.
Mnemonic: BIG FLESHY MEMBRANE COVERS
SUNNY GRASS
Or: SUNSET AFFECTS BODY’S MEMBRANES
2002
枕
makura, CHIN
pillow
L1
8 strokes
makuramotobedside
temakurause arm for pillow
karimakuraa nap, doze
Seal ; late graph (Shuowen). Has 73
‘wood, tree’, with 冘 (CO, originally pictograph
of person carrying heavy object; see
1729 Note) as phonetic with associated
sense ‘sink into/onto’, giving ‘wooden artefact
to sink head down onto’, i.e. ‘headrest,
pillow’. While in the modern world we think
of a pillow as something soft, in ancient China
(and prewar Japan) hard materials such
as wood and bamboo (and later porcelain)
appear to have been the norm. TA1965:789-
93; SS1984:609-10; MS1995:v1:112-13. As
with 1729, we suggest taking 冘 as (heavy)
man with crooked leg and broken arms.
Mnemonic: MAN WITH CROOKED LEG AND
BROKEN ARMS HAS WOODEN PILLOW
598 The Remaining 1130 Characters