Month: November 2018

In the CCD, all characters are grouped into series, and each series is headed by an identifier called the series header (or just ‘header’), which is the part that characters of one series have in common.  For most characters this header is just what is commonly called the phonetic part of the character, the part that indicates the sound.

For example, take a look at these two series, one is headed by 夗, (yuān), the other by 宛 (wăn).

I always had difficulty distinguishing between characters like 怨, 宛, 碗, 婉, which are all used quite frequently. But with this arrangement I can find them quickly and compare them and refresh my memory. So you’re not studying one character at a time, but several over a space of time. Learning about the meaning of phonetics and radicals can also help.

In all there are about 1800 series, with 1800 headers. These headers are combinations of a total of 393 different components. Series are clustered into 393 character tables (CTs), based on one of the components that headers have in common. The example above was taken from the character table of 夕, and therefore, all other headers  in that CT also contain this component, such as 舛, 桀, 粦, 外, 岁, 名, 罗, et cetera. In all there are 19 series headers in this CT, each of which is at the head of one series consisting of a number of characters. If you want to find a character in this CT, then you have to look for the header that forms part of the character you are looking for. At the beginning of each CT is a list with all headers that can be found in that particular CT.

In their turn, character tables are bundled into 17 sections, based on a common feature of the component they have in common. For example, the CT of  夕, can be found in section 2, because that is the section with components that consist of two slanting strokes to the left connected by a horizontal one, such as  勹 , 勿, 芻,  夕, 歹, 夂, 攵, et cetera.

All 393 components that define a character table have been gathered in an ordered list, called the Main Components Table (MCT). This table consists of 17 categories, and each category corresponds with one of the 17 sections with CTs. The MCT defines a certain order among the 393 components, which is important for locating headers and characters. For example, 匐 consists of 勹, 口, and 田 . In which CT should it be located, in that of 勹, 口, or 田? Or in all three? The rule to be used here is simply to take the component that is first in the order established by the MCT, because in that CT header and characters that have 匐 as header can be found.

See also:

Background of the MCT for more information about how this list was set up, and more details about its role is for the arrangement of characters in the CCD.

How to use the CCD for information on the role of the MCT for looking up characters and some examples.

Representatives for details about how to know in which category a particular component can be found. Once users are familiar with these they do not longer have to reference the MCT each time, but can go directly to the section containing the character.

Header tables for an example of the tables with header lists that can be found at the beginning of each section. With the help of these tables users can quickly find any character within a particular section.

 

Pronounced: jìng. At the left-hand side of the modern form 敬 is 苟 (jì), which in this case is derived from 勹 (envelop), 口 (mouth), and the component on top of 勹, which stands for the horns of a goat. The first two should be taken together: a mouth that is enveloped, or restricted, not being able to speak freely. This meaning is emphasized by the horns on top, which were changed into 艹 (grass), and is a plant that goats love to munch, preferable while staring into the distance. Maybe they are having some deep thoughts, maybe about how simple and wonderful life can be if you are a born goat. Sometimes it’s what I also like to do: stare in the distance, munching something, and having some deep thoughts. Usually I’m sitting, though. So there’s at least one difference between me and a goat. Most important is that they are not running around, but standing still. And that is what the meaning is in this character: to stand still. By the way, 苟 has also another pronunciation (gŏu), which has a different origin. See the CCD for details.

Therefore, the combined meaning of the components that make up 苟 is: somebody who is standing still, not being able to speak freely or to move freely. The reason for this is provided by the element at the right, which is the radical 攵, which stands for ‘stick’, but should here be taken in its extended meaning ‘authority’.

So, the person from the character doesn’t dare to speak freely or to move because of some kind of authority. Could be a parent, or a teacher, or the government. In any case, this person is  fearful, or at least respectful, of the authority. And that is the meaning of 敬: respect.

While slipping into my goat-like nature munching a sandwich while sitting still on a bench in a park in Hong Kong I was musing about the connection between ‘respect’ and ‘authority’. I wondered whether they always go together. Here on the subway for example, people tend to give up their seat for an elderly person or a pregnant woman. Clearly, they do that out of respect, though they are not fearful of that person. Can we still say that such an elderly person or pregnant woman has ‘authority’? Maybe not. On the other hand, suppose you are aware of somebody who is pregnant, but do not stand up, how would you feel? You are not sitting as peaceful anymore as before. You would feel guilty, you are not doing something that most people in society hold for the right thing to do. So, in fact, these people are having a certain influence, or power, granted them on account of their situation by the society. Sometimes, their authority can be awesome.

Well, that was a lot of ado about one character. Hope you like it.

危 is used a lot, in words like 危险 （wēi xiǎn, danger). But what is the origin of this character? Looking at the ancient seal character, it is not hard to distinguish the character for “man” (人) on top. The man stands on 厂, which here represents the steep slope of a mountain. Experts do not agree about the form below. According to Baidu.com it represents a part of a bone of a human leg, and the character should be explained as: somebody standing on a high cliff, and with the extended meaning of “high, dangerous”. Leon Wieger, however, who based himself on unspecified Chinese sources, says that it represents the ancient form of 卩 (seal).  The extended meaning of that is “authority, rule, just measure”, to name a few. In this case it should be interpreted as “to restrict”. The combined meaning would then be: somebody standing on the edge of a steep cliff and restricting their motions. In other words: dangerous.

     Ancient wisdom:

A book is like a garden carried in the pocket.

In traditional Chinese: 書是隨時攜帶的花園

In simplified Chinese: 书是随时携带的花园

In pinyin: shū shì suí shí xié dài de huā yuán

These and other old and modern Chinese sayings you can find in the Chinese Character Dictionary:

www.chinesecharacterdictionary.nl

 

 

 

 

 

—————–

 

At the left-hand side of 敬 is 苟, which in this case is derived from 勹 (envelop), 口 (mouth), and (horns of a goat). The first two should be taken together: a mouth that is enveloped, or restricted, not being able to speak freely. This meaning is emphasized by the horns on top, which were changed into 艹 (grass), and is a plant that goats love to munch, preferable while staring into the distance. Maybe they are having some deep thoughts, maybe about how simple and wonderful life can be if you are a born goat. Sometimes it’s what I also like to do: stare in the distance, munching something, and having some deep thoughts. Usually I’m sitting, though. So there’s at least one difference between me and a goat. Most important is that they are not running around, but standing still. And that is what the meaning is in this character: to stand still. By the way, 苟 has also another origin. See the CCD for details.

Therefore, the combined meaning of the components that make up 苟 is: somebody who is standing still, not being able to speak freely or to move freely. The reason for this is provided by the element at the right, which is the radical 攵, which stands for ‘stick’, but should here be taken in its extended meaning ‘authority’.

So, the person from the character doesn’t dare to speak freely or to move because of some kind of authority. Could be a parent, or a teacher, or the government. In any case, this person is  fearful, or at least respectful, of the authority. And that is the meaning of 敬: respect.

While slipping into my goat-like nature munching a sandwich while sitting still on a bench in a park in Hong Kong I was musing about the connection between ‘respect’ and ‘authority’. I wondered whether they always go together. Here on the subway for example, people tend to give up their seat for an elderly person or a pregnant woman. Clearly, they do that out of respect, though they are not fearful of that person. Can we still say that such an elderly person or pregnant woman has ‘authority’? Maybe not. On the other hand, suppose you are aware of somebody who is pregnant, but do not stand up, how would you feel? You are not sitting as peaceful anymore as before. You’ll feel guilty, you are not doing something that most people in society hold for the right thing to do. So, in fact, these people are having a certain influence, or power, granted them on account of their situation by the society.

Well, that was a lot of ado about one character. Hope you like it.

 

It is often hard to know what the origin is of a Chinese character just by looking at its shape, especially is this the case with simplified characters, and when talking about radicals things get even more abstract.

Which is a pity, because understanding why characters took on their present shape can help you to remember them better, besides telling them apart from others that look somewhat similar.

Take 阝 for example, a radical that appears in hundreds of char-acters. As you may know, when placed at the left of another component it means ‘mound’ or ‘wall’. But what is its origin? Leon Wieger, in his monumental ‘Chinese Characters’, wrote that in its oldest form it looked something like represented here at the right.

As Wieger explains, the three circles on top represent a forest, which is placed on top of a declivity, consisting of the well-known 厂, which here stands for ‘slope’, and three horizontal lines which represent levels in the declivity. A later form in the development of the character is represented below it.

Finally, when used in printed material, it was written 阜, which you won’t see much in an everyday Chinese newspaper, but, as said earlier, in its radical form it is very common, so you may want to remember its origin.

These and many other etymologies of well-known Chinese characters can be found in the Chinese Character Dictionary, of which I have uploaded an update last month. You can find a brief introduction at:

www.chinesecharacterdictionary.nl/why-buy-this-book

Finally, somebody submitted a review on Amazon about the Chinese Character Dictionary. For me that was important, because sales had been very disappointing, and reviews almost entirely lacking. The person submitting the review gave the book four stars, and added that the only reason for not giving five stars was that the Main Components Table, the table you need to locate components, was ‘buried’ somewhere in the middle of the book, instead of being placed at the beginning or at the end, which would make it much easier to refer to it each time when you need it.

Personally, I never considered this a problem, because I almost never use the MCT, because I usually know in which category a component belongs, and so I only use the section header tables at the beginning of a section that corresponds with the category. I am sure that first time users of the CCD will get used finding characters without referring to the MCT too after a while.

Anyway, I have copied the MCT to the appendix at the end of the book, and also the list with categories and representatives. And many thanks to the person who submitted the review.

Besides this, the Introduction was amended at a few places, and some minor mistakes in the dictionary part were corrected. This latest update was uploaded on October 26 and new orders for the CCD will all be for this updated version.

The Simplified CCD and the pocket Simplified CCD have been updated in a similar way. A major update of the pocket CCD is in preparation.