鹿 | lù

In Mandarin Chinese, 鹿 (Pinyin: lù 🔊) means “deer”. (You may have recognised it as a part of 塵, the traditional form of 尘.) Can you see a deer in this character? Me neither, but on Uncle Hanzi’s page you can see the evolution of the pictogram which, indeed, used to look like a deer. According to Wiktionary,

Current form is highly abstracted — legs have transformed to 比 — note grouping of front and rear legs, which are bent — head has transformed to middle component (similar to 凸/曲), while antlers on top and extended lip/mouth on left transformed into 广. This transformation occurred during seal characters.

Some compounds of 鹿 include

• 水 + 鹿 = 水鹿 (shuǐlù): sambar (Cervus unicolor)
• 驯 “tame” + 鹿 = 驯鹿 (xùnlù): reindeer
• 驼 “humpback” + 鹿 = 驼鹿 (tuólù): moose; elk
• 鹿 + 骇 “to frighten” = 鹿骇 (lùhài): frightened like a deer
• 指 + 鹿 + 为 + 马 = 指鹿为马 (zhǐlùwéimǎ): to be a false witness (literally: “to point to a deer and call it a horse”)

In Japanese, 鹿 is pronounced shika. Deer are prominently featured in Japanese poetry.

三度啼て 聞えずなりぬ 鹿の声 Sando naite kikoezu narinu shika no koe Three times it cried, And was heard no more, The voice of the deer. Buson

鹿ながら 山影門に 入日哉 Shika nagara yamakage mon ni irihi kana The slanting sun: The shadow of a hill with a deer on it Enters the temple gate. Buson

山寺や 縁の上なる 鹿の声 Yamadera ya en no ue naru shika no koe A mountain temple: The voice of the stag On the verandah. Issa (All haiku translated by R.H. Blyth)

More photos of sea glass @ Shutterstock.