480531170

Appendix
Similarly Shaped Elements Easily Confused
1. The Two Determinatives ⼡and ⼢
OBI bronze seal
Note: does not occur at any period as an independent graph, only as an element
within a compound graph. The OBI form above for (listed by Gu), of very low
frequency of occurrence, is best regarded as provisional. The above table is based on
information in MS1995:v1:284-5, GY2008:39, and KJ1970:58.
The issue of distinction between (determinative no. 34 in the traditional system
of 214) and (determinative no. 35 in the same system) can be confusing. This
is due partly, no doubt, to similarity in shape. There is also the difficulty of clearly
interpreting the original meanings. Such difficulties surrounding and are
perhaps the reason why the difference in shape between the two is not maintained
clearly in the authoritative Kangxi zidian (1716) compiled on Imperial command
(Peking Palace printed version [early 19th century]), though they are still treated as
separate determinatives. In the modern period, was printed for a while in a way
which helped distinguish it from (see, for example, the traditional form of
441 ‘love’), but that distinctiveness has been lost in the standard computerized fonts.
700