鱼 | yú

In Mandarin Chinese, 鱼 (Pinyin: yú 🔊) is a noun that means “fish”.

鱼 is a simplified form of the traditional character 魚, where the radical 灬 gets replaced by 一. We’ve already seen this kind of simplification in the characters for horse (馬 → 马), bird (鳥 → 鸟) and crow (烏 → 乌).

According to L.J. Howell’s Etymological Dictionary of Han/Chinese Characters, 魚 is

A depiction of the hard, dried skeleton of a fish.

Compounds of 鱼 include

• 人 + 鱼 = 人鱼 (rényú): mermaid, merfolk
• 金 + 鱼 = 金鱼 (jīnyú): goldfish
• 鱼 + 狗 = 鱼狗 (yúgǒu): kingfisher
• 鱼 + 子 = 鱼子 (yúzǐ): roe, fish eggs
• 鱼 + 网 = 鱼网 (yúwǎng): fishing net
• 鱼 + 水 = 鱼水 (yúshuǐ): (figurative) intimate relationship; inseparability

In Japanese, 魚 is pronounced uo (🔊).

底見えて 魚見えて秋の 水深し 子規 Soko miete uo miete aki no mizu fukashi The bottom seen clearly, The fish seen clearly, — Deep is the water of autumn. Shiki (Translated by R.H. Blyth)

More photos related to fish, sea glass and calligraphy @ Shutterstock.

门 | mén

In Mandarin Chinese, 门 (Pinyin: mén 🔊) is a word of many meanings, all of which are ultimately derived from “gate”:

1. gate; door; entrance; opening
2. valve; switch
3. knack, way of doing something
4. school of thought
5. class, category
6. measure word used for academic subjects, courses and branches of technology

门 is a simplified form of the traditional character 門. Lawrence J. Howell in his Etymological Dictionary of Han/Chinese Characters describes 門 as a

depiction of a curving, double-doored gate, the doors adhering tightly in concealing what lies behind it.

It won’t surprise you then to know that a half of this character, 戶, means a single door.

I find the traditional character more pleasing aesthetically and easier to remember; the simplified one 门 is easier to write but it makes me think rather of a fridge door or power switch ⏻ than of the “real” gate.

The many compounds of 门 include

• 门 + 口 = 门口 (ménkǒu): entrance
• 门 + 人 = 门人 (ménrén): door guard
• 出 + 门 = 出门 (chūmén): to go out; to leave home for a far place; to get married (of a woman)
• 龙 + 门 = 龙门 (lóngmén): gateway to success; fame; glory
• 山 + 门 = 山门 (shānmén): monastery gate
• 水 + 门 = 水门 (shuǐmén): floodgate, sluice, water valve
• 玉 + 门 = 玉门 (yùmén): “jade gate” (literary, figuratively) palace; (euphemism) vulva

as well as Chinese toponyms such as

• 金 + 门 = 金门 (Jīnmén): Kinmen (Quemoy)
• 下 + 门 = 下门 (Xiàmén): Xiamen (Amoy)
• 天 + 安 + 门 = 天安门 (Tiān'ānmén): Tiananmen, “Gate of Heavenly Peace”.

And not just Chinese: for example, 水门, apart from “floodgate”, is also a literal translation of Watergate. As the back-formed suffix -gate is used in English to form the names of scandals (such as Climategate, Irangate, Nipplegate etc.), so does 门 in Chinese.

In Japanese, 門 is pronounced mon or kado. We already read a haiku by Buson featuring gates; here are some more:

埋火や 夜ふけて門を たたく音 許六 Umorebi ya yo fukete mon wo tataku oto A banked fire; It is deep night; Knocking at the gate. Kyoroku

門口に 來て凍るなり 三井の鐘 一茶 Kadoguchi ni kite kōrunari Mii no kane Reaching the gate, The bell of Mii temple Freezes. Issa (All haiku translated by R.H. Blyth)

More photos of gates, doors and sea glass @ Shutterstock.

合 | hé

In Mandarin Chinese, 合 (Pinyin: hé 🔊) is used as an adjective for “whole”, “entire”; an adverb “together”; and a verb meaning “to add up”, “to be equal to”, “to close”, “to combine”, “to join”, “to unite”, etc.

According to Wiktionary, 合 is an ideogrammic compound of 亼 “to gather from three sides” and 口 “mouth”:

Two mouths speaking together.

Uncle Hanzi says that “top is inverted mouth, bottom mouth, meaning to agree” and adds another explanation: “pot and lid join”. In her Chinese Calligraphy Sourcebook, Yat-Ming Cathy Ho writes:

The top inward-sloping strokes of hé and the horizontal stroke beneath them mean “heaven”, “people” and “earth”.

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

As per 口 (cavity → open container) + an abbreviated form of 今 (contain) → press/fit together a lid on a container, containing objects inside → fit; join; put together; meet. Extended meanings include suit; match; agree/coincide with; correspond to; be correct; add (to); combine; set/adjust (a device); adapt oneself to; and check (with/against).

Some compounds of 合 include

• 合 + 金 = 合金 (héjīn): alloy
• 合 + 十 = 合十 (héshí): “ten together”, i.e. to put the palms together (as a Buddhist greeting)
• 六 + 合 = 六合 (liùhé): the six directions (east, west, north, south, up and down); the whole country
• 百 + 合 = 百合 (bǎihé): lily (“for the numerous segmented and overlapping scales on the bulb of the lily”)
• 好 + 合 = 好合 (hǎohé): happy union (marriage)
• 回 + 合 = 回合 (huíhé): round (of sports, negotiations etc.)

In Japanese, 百合 (lily) is pronounced yuri. Yuri is also a common female given name.

More photos related to lilies, hanzi and calligraphy @ Shutterstock.

夏 | xià

In Mandarin Chinese, 夏 (Pinyin: xià 🔊) means “summer”. There are other, mostly obsolete, meanings of this word. Just to be sure that they are really talking about summertime, the Chinese use compounds with 季 “season”, 夏季 (xiàjì), or 天 “day”, 夏天 (xiàtiān). Some other compound words of 夏 include

• 夏 + 仲 = 仲夏 (zhòngxià): midsummer
• 夏 + 历 / 曆 = 夏历 / 夏曆 (xiàlì): Chinese calendar
• 金 + 春 + 沙 = 金夏沙 (Jīnxiàshā): purely phonetic rendering of Kinshasa (the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo)

With ten strokes, 夏 is the most complex hanzi of the four seasons. According to Wiktionary, it all started with

an ideogrammic compound: 日 (“sun”) + 頁 (“head; man”) — man under the scorching sun; summer.

A number of modifications ensued until the character reached its current shape.

More photos related to summer and sea glass @ Shutterstock.

申 | shēn

In Mandarin Chinese, 申 (Pinyin: shēn 🔊) has many meanings. As a verb, it can mean “to announce”, “to express”, “to explain”, “to state”, “to request”, “to report”, “to extend”, “to stretch”... As a noun, 申 is the ninth of twelve earthly branches. It corresponds to the Year of the Monkey (猪) of the Chinese zodiac; the seventh month; the hour of the Monkey (3 pm to 5 pm, “the time when Monkeys are lively”); and the direction 240° (where 0° is north). Its associated “fixed element” is Metal, 金. 申 is also one of the alternative names of Shanghai.

Note that the character 猪 refers to any actual monkey or ape while 申 refers to the zodiac animal. 申 is derived from a pictogram for bolt of lightning, as can be seen in some historical forms of the character. However, it is unclear how lightning is connected to any of the modern meanings.

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

猴 | hóu

But enough with barnyard animals, let’s move into more exotic territory. In Mandarin Chinese, 猴 (Pinyin: hóu) means “monkey” or “ape”. The Monkey is one of the twelve-year cycle of animals which appear in the Chinese zodiac and is associated with the earthly branch 申.

In her Chinese Calligraphy Sourcebook, Yat-Ming Cathy Ho writes about 猴:

This intelligent character is agile in its movements. The right part of the character has a man on its left with bows and arrows at the bottom of the tree, ready to shoot. The left side often appears in characters relating to animals.

I’m sure that you too have noticed similarity between 猴 and characters for dog (狗) and pig (猪). That’s right, all of them have the radical 犭 (“dog”) on the left! 猪 is a phono-semantic compound of 犭 and phonetic 侯 (hóu).

According to Wikipedia, Chinese polymath Li Shizhen (1518—1593) distinguished eleven varieties of monkeys:

A small one with a short tail is called Hou ([猴] monkey). If it looks like a monkey but has a prominent moustache, then it is called Ju [狙]. If it looks like a monkey but is bigger, then it is Jue [貜]. A monkey that is big, with red eyes and a long tail, is called Yu [禺]. A monkey that is small but has a long tail and an upright nose is called You [狖]. A monkey that is similar to You but is bigger is called Guoran [果然]. A monkey that is similar to You but smaller is called Mengsong [蒙頌]. A monkey that is similar to You but jumps a lot is called Canhu [獑猢]. A monkey that has long arms is called Yuan ([猿] ape). A monkey that is similar to Yuan but has a golden tail is called Rong [狨]. A monkey that is similar to Yuan but bigger, and can eat apes and monkeys, is called Du [獨].

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

酉 | yǒu

In Mandarin Chinese, 酉 (Pinyin: yǒu 🔊) is a useful word meaning “an alcoholic drink vessel” (such as bottle, jar and so on). 酉 is also the tenth of twelve earthly branches. It corresponds to the Year of the Rooster (鸡) of the Chinese zodiac; the eighth month; the hour of the Rooster (5 pm to 7 pm, “the time when Roosters begin to get back to their coops”); and the direction 270° (i.e. west). Its associated “fixed element” is Metal, 金. Note that the character 鸡 refers to actual fowl while 酉 refers to the zodiac bird.

Does the shape of 酉 remind you anything? That’s right, it looks very much like the character 四. Only in case of 酉 we see the Greek letter π trying to get more visible, perhaps with a little help of a bench or something. In fact, 酉 has evolved from a pictogram of a jug (of wine).

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

星 | xīng

In Mandarin Chinese, 星 (Pinyin: xīng 🔊) means “star”, broadly speaking: it could be any heavenly body, celebrity, or a star shape. “Star” in a purely astronomical sense is 星星 (xīngxing) — not to be confused with 行星 (xíngxīng), “planet”.

You’d think that the Chinese could have chosen something like ★ to represent a star, but no. The original form of 星 was 曐, which is made of 晶 (jīng) “sparkling” on top of now-familiar 生 (shēng) “to give birth”, “to grow”, etc. In its turn, 晶 consists of three radicals 日 (rì), “sun”. In 星, only one sun is left, but you get the picture. Many historical forms of this character look surprisingly similar to the Western astrological or astronomical symbols.

According to Wǔ Xíng, the five elements correspond to the five visible planets (and vice versa) as follows:

• 水 + 星 = 水星 (Shuǐxīng) “water star” = Mercury
• 金 + 星 = 金星 (Jīnxīng) “metal star” = Venus
• 火 + 星 = 火星 (Huǒxīng) “fire star” = Mars
• 木 + 星 = 木星 (Mùxīng) “wood star” = Jupiter
• 土 + 星 = 土星 (Tǔxīng) “earth star” = Saturn

More photos of stars and sea glass @ Shutterstock.

金 | jīn

In Mandarin Chinese, 金 (Pinyin: jīn 🔊) means “gold” or “metal”.

Metal is one of the five elements of Wǔ Xíng. The ancient meaning of 金 (now obsolete) was “copper”. Ponte Ryūrui says that 金 “is a pictograph of copper ore cast in a mould”. You are unlikely to remember that, however, unless you have studied metallurgy. Alternatively, you can think of 金 as a representation of a Chinese bell made of bronze or some other copper alloy. Uncle Hanzi gives a number of historical forms of this character that look convincingly like such bells.

More photos of metals and sea glass @ Shutterstock.