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.

午 | wǔ

In Mandarin Chinese, 午 (Pinyin: wǔ 🔊) is the seventh of twelve earthly branches. It corresponds to the Year of the Horse (马) of the Chinese zodiac; the fifth month; the hour of the Horse (11 am to 1 pm, “the time when the sun is high overhead and while other animals are lying down for a rest, Horses are still standing”, or, sometimes, precisely noon); and the direction 180° (i.e. south). Its associated “fixed element” is Fire, 火. Note that the character 马 refers to any horse while 午 refers to the “zodiac horse”.

The shape of 午 is almost exactly the same as 牛 but these two characters are unrelated. According to Uncle Hanzi, 午 is a “pictograph of a large double ended pestle for dehusking rice”.

More photos related to horses, zodiac and sea glass @ Shutterstock.

马 | mǎ

In Mandarin Chinese, 马 (Pinyin: mǎ 🔊) means “horse”. The Horse is one of the twelve-year cycle of animals which appear in the Chinese zodiac and is associated with the earthly branch 午. 马 also stands for “knight” (in chess) and “horse” (or “knight”) in xiangqi (Chinese chess). Finally, 马 can be used as an adjective “big”.

马 is a simplified form of the traditional character 馬 which is

derived from the pictogram of a horse with its head turned to look back and showing a flowing mane in the wind. The four short strokes at its base (灬) represent its feet, and the sweeping hook stroke in the lower right represents its tail.

Curiously, or maybe not, 小马 / 小馬 (xiǎomǎ), a compound with our friend 小, “small”, can mean either “pony” or “foal”. My Lovely “you’re a pony no more” Horse springs to mind, as horses do.

More photos related to horses, zodiac and sea glass @ Shutterstock.