手 | shǒu

In Mandarin Chinese, 手 (Pinyin: shǒu 🔊) means “hand”. It also has a number of derived meanings such as “handy”, “portable”, “handwritten”, or used as a suffix to create names of specialists or experts in something.

Lawrence J. Howell writes in his Etymological Dictionary of Han/Chinese Characters:

A depiction of a hand showing the five fingers in a curved, gripping position. Extended meanings include arm; paw; foreleg; a handle; helper; a means; technique; (in board games) a move; a type; a direction; and handwriting.

Ponte Ryūrui notes:

Although the modern form of the character 手 may be somewhat misleading (6 fingers), the “hand” radical 扌 still resembles the ancient pictographs. <...> The upper stroke in standard script is the result of aesthetical modification made to the first stroke in the cursive hand which imitates the “middle finger”.

Compounds of 手 include

手 + 工 = 手工 (shǒugōng 🔊): handwork; manually 水 + 手 = 水手 (shuǐshǒu 🔊): saylor 一 + 手 = 一手 (yīshǒu): single-handedly; proficiency, skill 好 + 手 = 好手 (hǎoshǒu): expert, professional 生 + 手 = 生手 (shēngshǒu): novice, new to a job 国 + 手 = 国手 (guóshǒu): national champion, grand master 出 + 手 = 出手 (chūshǒu): to sell (goods); to spend (money) 入 + 手 = 入手 (rùshǒu): to start with, to begin with; to buy, to obtain

In Japanese, 手 can be pronounced as te 🔊, as in 空手 karate 🔊, or shu, as in 選手 senshu 🔊 “player”.

手に戻る 鷹の眼に 入る日哉 大魯 Te ni modoru taka no manako ni irihi kana The sun, In the eye of the falcon That returned to my hand. Tairo

Japanese has different logic (from that of Chinese), and in some compounds of 手 you may hear neither te nor shu. For instance, 上手 “skillful” or “good at” is pronounced jōzu but 下手 “unskilled” or “bad at” is pronounced heta:

世の中は なく虫さへも 上手下手 一茶 Yo no naka wa naku mushi sae mo jōzu heta Even among insects, in this world, Some are good at singing, Some bad. Issa (All haiku translated by R.H. Blyth)

More photos related to hands, beads, hanzi and calligraphy @ Shutterstock.

下 | xià

In Mandarin Chinese, 下 (Pinyin: xià 🔊) has many meanings but all of them have something to do with direction “down”. Predictably enough, it looks very much like the character 上 flipped upside down.

Lawrence J. Howell writes in his Etymological Dictionary of Han/Chinese Characters:

The relevant oracle bone form of this character is a depiction of one line below another, suggesting the idea of under (contrast 上) → low; lower; below; down; subordinate; descend. Extended meanings from “down” or “below” include come/go down; fall; drop; hang (down/from); hand down; younger; have diarrhea; abort (a fetus); step/move back; withdraw; leave the capital; retire and surrender. By further extension are carry, remove and clear a table (← take down from a table); grate (← grated shavings that fall below); give and do someone the favor of (← hand ← hand down); obtain (← be handed/given); and latter half (← bottom/lower of two halves).

There are a great number of compounds of 下, for instance

• 下 + 午 = 下午 (xiàwǔ 🔊): afternoon
• 上 + 下 = 上下 (shàngxià): up and down, high and low, etc. but also in a sense “about” or “more or less”
• 上 + 上 + 下 + 下 = 上上下下 (shàngshàngxiàxià): everybody; all; the whole
• 天 + 下 = 天下 (tiānxià): everything under the sky; a lofty name of China (but of course!); an ancient Chinese concept of tianxia

I think the physics community should adopt the symbols 上 and 下 for up and down quarks instead of rather boring “u” and “d”.

More photos related to down, downward and sea glass @ Shutterstock.

上 | shàng

In Mandarin Chinese, 上 (Pinyin: shàng 🔊) has many meanings but all of them are ultimately connected with direction “up”.

Lawrence J. Howell writes in his Etymological Dictionary of Han/Chinese Characters:

A depiction of one line above another, suggesting the idea of rising above (contrast 下) → up; upper; top → rise; raise; offer. Other extended meanings include ascent; readiness; completion; just after; go up; climb; enter; end; increase; improve; on; beyond; first (half); emperor; raise/bring up (a matter); record; upward (bound); go to the capital; and reach.

There are a great number of compounds of 上, for example

• 上 + 上 = 上上 (shàngshàng): the best, great, superb
• 上 + 午 = 上午 (shàngwǔ 🔊): morning
• 上 + 海 = 上海 (Shànghǎi 🔊): Shanghai (literally, “Upon-the-Sea”)

More photos related to ascent, upward, raising, rising and sea glass @ Shutterstock.