Direction

Today, I introduce the origin of some kanji characters that stands for directions.

東 east

It is speculated that the origin of this character is a pouch for hunting.
In ancient times, people used to get up and go hunting with a leather pouch at sunrise.
The direction of sunrise is east.

西 west

There are two different theories for this character.
According to a researcher, the origin of this character is the shape of a birds' nest.
Birds go west to get back to their nest around the time of sunset.
So the shape of a nest come to mean "west".

There is another theory, which says it is the shape of a bamboo basket.

南 south

According to one theory, it's a bronze gong brought from southern countries.
The shape of the gong has come to mean "south".

Another researcher says it is the shape of a house and a cabin.

北 north

Two people stand back to back.
Another meaning of this character is "back".
In the daytime the direction of the sun is south in China.
People like sunshine, and they face to south.
And their back is "north".

What does the "月" moon stand for?

The radical "moon" stands for meat?

Have you ever seen these kanji before?

胃　腸　臓

These characters are related to internal organs.
And you may have noticed, but these characters usually have "月 moon".
Why do these characters have "moon"?
I will explain it.

Contents

• The origins of "moon" and "meat"
• Moon or meat
• Practice sheet

The origins of "moon" and "meat"

First of all, let's check the origins of "moon" and "meat".

As I introduced in this post, the pictograph of the character "月 moon" represents the shape of the crescent moon.




The origin of the character "肉 meat", on the other hand, is a chunk of meat.




But as seen above, the Chinese seal script of these characters are very alike.


When written as a simple "moon" and "meat", both have different characters, "月" and "肉".
However, when these characters are used as a radical, these two characters look very similar.

Let me give you an example.
Take a look at the characters shown below.


"期" means "period". The right part of the character stands for "moon".
"肘" means "elbow". The left part of the character stands for "meat".
As you can see, "肉" becomes "月" when written as a radical.

I listed some kanji characters with the "月" that are usually learned in a Japanese elementary school.

Moon or meat.

kanji	yomi	moon or meat	meaning
朝	あさ asa	moon	morning
明	あか(るい) akarui	moon	bright
育	そだ(てる) sodateru	meat	to raise
期	き ki	moon	period
有	あ(る) aru	meat	have
勝	か(つ) katsu	boat*	to win
胃	い i	meat	stomach
腸	ちょう cho	meat	intestine
肥	ひ hi	meat	fat
胸	むね mune	meat	breast
臓	ぞう zou	meat	internal organs
腹	はら hara	meat	belly

According to the list, the kanji characters that have "meat" account for the majority of the kanji.
And they are roughly related to the body-parts or internal organs.

A Tip for remembering kanji
Kanji characters that have "月" on the right usually mean something related to time. (朝, 期, etc) Kanji characters that have "月" on the left or on the bottom usually mean something related to body or internal. (胃, 腸, 腹 etc)

I think you found an exception on the list.
The radical of the character "勝" is neither moon nor meat.
It is a boat.
In Chinese seal script, it is written as seen below.



The left part of this character stands for a boat.
It is a bit complicated, so I will skip the details of this character in this post for now.

But I want you to remember that the shape of the radical "月" has three meanings, "moon", "meat" and "boat".

download the practice sheet

I prepared practice sheet.
If you are interested, please download them.

Why are the number kanji written the way they are?

Have you ever wondered why the kanji of numbers why the number kanji are written the way they are?

I think "一 one", "二 two" and "三 three" are understandable.

Theoretically, it should be like this below.



How come the "四 four" became like this?
I am going to introduce the reason.


Contents

• Using other kanji, 仮借
• The origins of the kanji numbers five-ten
• Practice sheet

Using other kanji characters, 仮借

Sometimes kanji characters have quite irrelevant origins.
It is because a specific kanji-making way is often used, which is called 仮借(kashaku).

仮借　かしゃく kashaku
Because there were no characters that stand for the words, other existing characters that have the same or similar pronunciation were used instead, and they became a household word later.

For example, "四 (four)" is speculated that its origin is the shape of a mouth and teeth.

In ancient China, the pronunciation of this kanji "四" and the pronunciation of "four" were the same, so they started to use the kanji "四" to mean "four".

Here are the origins of the number five-ten below.

The origins of the kanji numbers, five-ten

Some say it is the shape of crossed wood sticks, others say it is the shape of a box lid.(It originally means "to cross".)




It is said that the origin of "六" is the shape of a house.(It originally means "high".)




This character "七" stands for a cross-shaped cut.(It originally means "to cut".)




It describes something that is separated into two groups.(It originally means "to part".)




The pictograph shows a bended arm. (It originally means "to bend".)




It is the shape of wood sticks gathered into one bundle.

download the practice sheet

I prepared practice sheet.
If you are interested, please download them.

Monthly theme May 2017

First, download and print a practice sheet here.

Contents

• 大空 the sky
• 五月晴 fine weather in May
• 子供の日 Children's Day

Level 1

大空

Yomi	おおぞら oozora
Meaning	the sky

Level 2

五月晴

Yomi	ごがつ gogatsubare, さつきばれ satsukibare
Meaning	fine weather in May

Level 3

子供の日

Yomi	こどものひ kodomonohi
Meaning	Children's Day

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