喜 | xǐ

In Mandarin Chinese, 喜 is a word with a number of meanings — and three similar but different pronunciations.

1. 喜 (Pinyin: xǐ 🔊)
   adj. happy, joyful, celebratory;
   n. pregnancy (that is, a happy event);
   v. to like, to love, to enjoy
2. 喜 (Pinyin: xī 🔊)
   1. Archaic form of 嬉 v. to enjoy, to play
   2. Alternative form of 熙 adj. bright, splendid, glorious
3. 喜 (Pinyin: chì), a variant form of 饎
   n. food
   v. to cook

According to Wiktionary, 喜 is an ideogrammic compound of 壴 “drum” and 口 “mouth”. In its turn, 壴 is said to be a pictogram of a “drum 口 with two ends, a base and feathers 土 on top”. It’s not clear what “two ends” refer to. Does it mean that the drum is placed horizontally? But historical forms of 喜 contain a variety of “drums” — some look like djembe and others like timpani.

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

As per 壴 as described in 鼓 (round drum set on a stand) + 口 mouth → joyful voices at a feast with musical accompaniment → joy; gladness; like; be fond of; pleasure; happiness → good; desirable; congratulations.

Food and samba: totally my kind of party.

An alternative form of this character, 憙, contains our old friend 心, “heart-mind”:

Combining 喜 with another word for joy, 乐, we get 喜乐 (xǐlè), which means, well, “joy”. Happy joy. Real joy. Not any old semblance of joy but, you know — joy joy.

Other compounds of 喜 include:

• 喜 + 爱 = 喜爱 (xǐ'ài): to like, to be fond of, to be keen on, to love
• 喜 + 好 = 喜好 (xǐhào): to like, to be fond of, to be keen on
• 喜 + 气 = 喜气 (xǐqì): cheerful atmosphere
• 喜 + 感 = 喜感 (xǐgǎn): (neologism) comical, funny, humorous
• 喜 + 雨 = 喜雨 (xǐyǔ): welcome rain (after a drought)
• 大 + 喜 = 大喜 (dàxǐ): (literary) very happy, overjoyed; good news; wedding

I just came across this beautiful poem attributed to Tsangyang Gyatso, 6^th Dalai Lama (1683—1706); some alternative translations are here.

你见，或者不见我 我就在那里 不悲不喜	Whether you see me or not I’m right here Not sad not glad
你念，或者不念我 情就在那里 不来不去	Whether you miss me or not The affection is right here Not rising not falling
你爱，或者不爱我 爱就在那里 不增不减	Whether you love me or not The love is right here No more no less
你跟，或者不跟我 我的手就在你手里 不离不弃	Whether you accompany me or not My hand is in yours Not clinging not giving
来我的怀里 或者让我住进你的心里 默然 相爱 寂静 欢喜	Come into my arms Or let me reside in your heart Love with serenity Rejoice in silence

More photos related to joy, happiness, hanzi and calligraphy @ Shutterstock.

感 | gǎn

In Mandarin Chinese, 感 (Pinyin: gǎn 🔊) is a word of many meanings. As a verb, it can stand for “to feel”, “to perceive”; “to affect”, “to move”, “to touch”; “be affected by”, “be sensitive to”; “be grateful”, “to thank”; “to long for”, “to miss”, “to be sentimental”, “to sigh with emotion”. As a noun, it can mean “emotion”, “feeling”, “sensation”, “sense” or “thought”.

According to Wiktionary, 感 is a phono-semantic compound of phonetic 咸 and semantic 心, “heart-mind”. Remembering that 心 includes both heart and mind, it’s not difficult to see why Chinese can use the same word 感 for both “emotion” and “thought”.

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

咸 (shut) + 心 heart/emotions → emotion/feeling that shuts off sensation (= moves/affects one to the point of muteness or immobility).

However, 咸 really means “all”, “completely”, “together” or “united”. Could the whole combination be “to feel with all heart”?

感 is a simplified form of a traditional character 感. There is a subtle difference between these two. In the traditional 感, the “heart” 心 is drawn inside of the 咸 component, directly below the 口. In the simplified 感, the 心 is placed below the whole 咸 bit.

感 are often combined with other hanzi containing 心 (or its radical form, 忄), for example:

• 感 + 想 = 感想 (gǎnxiǎng 🔊): impressions, reflections, thoughts; to miss, to reminisce, to think of, to yearn for
• 感 + 念 = 感念 (gǎnniàn): to recall fondly; to recall sadly
• 快 + 感 = 快感 (kuàigǎn): delight, joy, pleasant feeling, pleasure, thrill

Some more compounds of 感:

• 感 + 激 = 感激 (gǎnjī 🔊): to be grateful
• 感 + 人 = 感人 (gǎnrén): heart-warming, moving, touching
• 白 + 感 = 百感 (bǎigǎn): all kinds of feelings and emotions
• 好 + 感 = 好感 (hǎogǎn): good feeling; goodwill; favour
• 口 + 感 = 口感 (kǒugǎn): mouthfeel, taste
• 手 + 感 = 手感 (shǒugǎn): feel, touch
• 美 + 感 = 美感 (měigǎn): sense of beauty
• 音 + 感 = 音感 (yīngǎn): sense of rhythm, pitch, sound, tone quality, etc.

Now for a bit of poetry. Chunwang (春望) is recognised as one of the “best and best-known works” by the Tang dynasty poet Du Fu (杜甫, 712—770). The poem is notoriously difficult to translate. With 春 (chūn) meaning “spring” and 望 (wàng) “to observe”, “to watch”, “to hope”, the title of the poem has been variously rendered as “Spring View”, “Spring Scene”, “Spring Gaze”, “Spring Outlook”, “Spring Prospect”, “Spring Hope” and so on. I like the translation by Vikram Seth, although the name he gave it, Spring Scene in Time of War, conveys more information than needed.

春望 (simplified) 国破山河在 城春草木深 感时花溅泪 恨别鸟惊心 烽火连三月 家书抵万金 白头搔更短 浑欲不胜簪	春望 (traditional) 國破山河在 城春草木深 感時花濺淚 恨別鳥驚心 烽火連三月 家書抵萬金 白頭搔更短 渾欲不勝簪
杜甫

Spring Scene in Time of War The state lies ruined; hills and streams survive. Spring in the city; grass and leaves now thrive. Moved by the times, the flowers shed their dew. The birds seem startled; they hate parting too. The steady beacon fires are three months old. A word from home is worth a ton of gold. I scratch my white hair which is grown so thin It soon won’t let me stick my hat pin in. Du Fu (Translated by Vikram Seth)

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

念 | niàn

In Mandarin Chinese, 念 (Pinyin: niàn 🔊) is a word with many meanings. As a verb, it can mean “to miss”, “to long for”, “to think of”, “to recall”, “to consider”, “to contemplate”, “to worry”, “to be anxious about”, “to feel compassion for”, “to show affection for”, “to commemorate”, “to pay tribute to”, as well as “to study”, “to learn”, “to read aloud” or “to chant”. As a noun, it can mean “idea”, “thought” or “memory”.

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

As per 今 (contain) + 心 heart/emotions → thought/idea contained deep within the heart (compare 意) → caution (← profound idea).

Once again, Howell mentions the meaning “contain”, this time for 今. However, 今 really means “current”, “now”, “present”. On the other hand, 含, itself a phono-semantic compound of 今 and 口, in addition to its original sense “to keep in the mouth”, can indeed mean “to contain”, “to harbor”, etc. Could it be that 口 “mouth” in 含 simply got replaced with 心 “heart”, so 含 “to keep in the mouth” → 念 “to keep in the heart”?

Some compounds of 念 include

• 意 + 念 = 意念 (yìniàn): thought, notion, will
• 思 + 念 = 思念 (sīniàn 🔊): to miss, to think of, to yearn for, to reminisce
• 想 + 念 = 想念 (xiǎngniàn 🔊): to miss, to think of, to yearn for, to reminisce
• 念 + 想 = 念想 (niànxiǎng): to miss, to cherish; thought, idea, impression; souvenir, keepsake, memento
• 念 + 白 = 念白 (niànbái): spoken parts of a Chinese opera
• 念 + 念 + 不 + 忘 = 念念不忘 (niànniàn bù wàng): to keep in mind constantly; to never forget

念 is a simplified form of a traditional character 念, which is also used in Japanese. As you can see, there is no much difference, apart from the stroke under the “roof” 𠆢.

In Japanese, 念 is pronounced nen (ねん) and means “thought”, “feeling”, “care” or “concern”.

念入て 尺とる虫や 菊の花 一茶 nen irete sashi toru mushi ya kiku no hana carefully measured by the inchworm... chrysanthemum Issa (Translated by David G. Lanoue)

More photos related to thought, hanzi 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.

杏 | xìng

In Mandarin Chinese, 杏 (Pinyin: xìng 🔊) means “apricot”. 杏 “is one of the 1000 most commonly used words” in the Collins Chinese Dictionary, although it does not explain why it’s so extremely common.

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

口 mouth + 木 tree/wood → apricot (← tree fruit savored in the mouth). Compare 梅, a closely related fruit thought to be beneficial for pregnant women on account of its voluminous production.

Some interesting compounds of 杏 include

• 杏 + 仁 “kernel” = 杏仁 (xìngrén): almond
• 杏 + 月 = 杏月 (Xìngyuè): the second month of the Chinese lunar calendar
• 杏 + 林 = 杏林 (xìnglín): literally, “apricot forest”; figuratively, “fine doctor” or “medical field”. According to Wiktionary, this meaning comes

  from the story of the famed physician Dong Feng [3^rd c. CE], who refused to accept payments from his patients, and instead asked patients successfully cured of ailments to plant apricot trees. A forest of apricot trees came to surround his home as a testament to his skill.

• 银 / 銀 “silver”, “money” + 杏 = 银杏 / 銀杏 (yínxìng): ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba)

More photos related to apricots, almonds, ginkgo, hanzi and calligraphy @ Shutterstock.

北 | běi

In Mandarin Chinese, 北 (Pinyin: běi 🔊) means “north” or “northern”. It also could be a verb meaning “to be defeated” or “to fail”. Not surprisingly, there are many placenames containing 北, such as

• 北 + 京 = 北京 (Běijīng): “northern capital”; Beijing
• 台 / 臺 + 北 = 台北 / 臺北 (Táiběi): Taipei
• 口 + 北 = 口北 (kǒuběi): area beyond the Great Wall

According to Wiktionary, 北 is an ideogrammic compound depicting two men back to back:

Originally meaning “back”; the character 背 refers to the original word.

The sense of “north” is derived from “back (of body)”: “back” → “to turn the back to; to retreat” → “north”.

The ancient Chinese value the southern direction and houses are traditionally oriented along a north-south axis, as evident in the fengshui theory and orientation of buildings in Chinese Neolithic sites. North is the direction the back is oriented to when the person is facing south.

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

The relevant oracle bone form of this character shows two figures, one with his back turned → turn one’s back to the enemy and flee (along a winding course) → flee → north (← flee to the north; or, turn one’s back to the cold north wind) → go northward.

Well if you turn your back “to the cold north wind” and walk, I guess you rather will be travelling south — unless you are an enemy from the North, one of the 北狄 (Běidí), i.e. “Northern Barbarians”; then you’d retreat northward still facing your victorious adversary. (That would be ancient Chinese who, naturally, lived in the centre of their Sinocentric universe.) I presume this links the symbol for the north with “to be defeated” or “to fail”.

More photos related to north and sea glass @ Shutterstock.

公 | gōng

In Mandarin Chinese, 公 (Pinyin: gōng 🔊) is an extremely common word with many meanings. As an adjective, it can mean “public”, “communal”, “general”, “international”, “fair” and, when applied to animals, “male”:

• 公 + 牛 = 公牛 (gōngniú 🔊): bull
• 公 + 羊 = 公羊 (gōngyáng 🔊): ram
• 公 + 鸡 = 公鸡 (gōngjī): cockerel, rooster

Could it be that “male” is a “general” kind of animal, as opposed to a female animal which is special?

As a noun, 公 can mean “official business”, “authorities” or “duke”. It is also used as a SI prefix kilo- as in 公斤 (gōngjīn) “kilogram” and 公里 (gōnglǐ) “kilometre”. 公公 (gōnggong) means “father-in-law” (more precisely, husband’s father).

There are several theories of this character’s origin. According to Wiktionary,

The traditional interpretation as given by Han Feizi is that 公 is a compound of 八 [= 背 (“to deviate; opposite”)] and 厶 [original form of 私 (“individual; private”)], i.e. the opposite of “individual”; public. This theory is supported by Sun Yirang and Qiang Kaiyun, despite the somewhat different shape of the top component from 厶.

This is disputed in modern times by Gao Hongjin, who thinks that the 八 on top stands for 分 (“to divide; to distribute”) and the bottom round component of 口 symbolises the general object. 公 thus represents “equally dividing resources so that they are communal”.

Another theory put forth by Zhu Fangpu is that 公 is a pictogram, being the original form of 瓮 (“a wide-mouthed round-bottomed jar”), and later borrowed for the meaning of “public”.

More photos of sea glass @ Shutterstock.

囗 | wéi

In Mandarin Chinese, 囗 (Pinyin: wéi 🔊) means “(a fenced) enclosure”.

As a radical, 囗 is also used to signify “enclosure”. You can put it around some other hanzi to get a new meaning. It should not be confused with similar character 口 (kǒu) “mouth” which you can put inside some other character. For example, if you put 口 inside 囗, you’ll get 回 (huí).

More photos related to walls and sea glass @ Shutterstock.

入 | rù

In Mandarin Chinese, 入 (Pinyin: rù 🔊) is a verb meaning “to enter”, “to go into”, “to arrive” and so on. Careful: in some dialects, it also means “to have sexual intercourse”.

According to Wiktionary, this hanzi represents “an arrowhead indicating ‘to enter’”, while Uncle Hanzi explains it as “an open tent door”. The latter explanation is easier to remember and clearly more inviting.

Combining 入 with 口, we get 入口 (rùkǒu 🔊), a useful word that means “entrance”, “way in”. I find both characters quite erotic.

More photos of entrance and sea glass @ Shutterstock.

出 | chū

In Mandarin Chinese, 出 (Pinyin: chū 🔊) is a verb meaning “to go out”, “to leave”, “to exit” etc.

出 looks like two 山 characters piled on top of each other, but in fact its origin has nothing to do with mountains. Many historical forms of this character, especially oracle bone script, show a footprint going out of some sort of enclosure: a room, a house, a city — anything with walls. On some of the oracle bone characters, the “enclosure” part even looks like an archaic form of 口 (that kind of toothy smile). Ponte Ryūrui mentions (and rejects) an alternative theory, where 出 is “based on an image of rapidly growing grass”.

Combining 出 with 口, we get 出口 (chūkǒu 🔊) that means “exit” or “way out” — a useful word to recognise, for example if you drive.

More photos of sea glass @ Shutterstock.

口 | kǒu

In Mandarin Chinese, 口 (Pinyin: kǒu 🔊) means “mouth”, “entrance”, “opening”, “hole” and so forth. This word is often used in combinations, for example: 火山 (huǒshān) “volcano” + 口 = 火山口 (huǒshānkǒu) “crater”.

Historical forms of this character look more like drawings of mouth with a tongue sticking out, or a big smile, while Ponte Ryūrui points out that the original meaning of 口 could have been “a ritual vessel or container and not a mouth”.

More photos related to smile and sea glass @ Shutterstock.

回 | huí

In Mandarin Chinese, 回 (Pinyin: huí 🔊) means “to return”, “to turn around”, “to reply”, or “to decline”.

There is a variety of historical forms of this character, including concentric circles and spiral shapes. For handwriting purposes, I think it is still easier to draw a spiral than a pair of concentric squares.

More photos of spirals and sea glass @ Shutterstock.