118. The "Bamboo" Radical: 竹 - Joy o' Kanji

The 25th kanji is 竹 (170: bamboo) itself. In the rest of this Radical Note, when you see a kanji that includes 竹, you can be sure that it's the on-duty ... LogIn Welcome! HOME JOINUS ESSAYS JOKIA ACCOUNT KAIMONO mycart(0) Share | RADICALNOTES 118.The"Bamboo"Radical:竹 The"bamboo"radical竹isessentiallystraightforward.Thissymmetricalsix-strokeradicalisalwayscalled"bamboo"inEnglish.JustastheJoyokun-yomioftheautonomouskanji竹isたけ,wecanrefertothisradicalasたけ.However,whenitsitsatopacharacterinamorecompressedform,たけかんむりistheappropriatename.Wecanuseたけかんむりfor24ofthe25Joyokanjiwiththison-dutyradical,suchasthefollowingcharacter: 策(873:scheme;policy,measure) The25thkanjiis竹(170:bamboo)itself. IntherestofthisRadicalNote,whenyouseeakanjithatincludes竹,youcanbesurethatit'stheon-dutyradical,notamerecomponent. Henshallsaysthatalthough竹isoftenbelievedtodepictbamboosegments,earlyformsrepresent"stemsofdwarfbamboowithspikyleaves."  Imagesoftheancient竹 fromSears'spage arenothinglikethe竹shapeweseetoday.Ifanything,thefirstonelookslikeanupside-down"grass"radicalinitsoldform,艸. PhotoCredit:ChristopherAcheson PhotoCredit:ChristopherAcheson TheBambooConnection It'seasytoimaginewhythere'sbambooinallofthefollowingkanji: 筆(569:brush,writinginstrument,writing) 籠(1983:basket;cage) 箸(2094:chopsticks) Afterall,peopleoriginallymadethoseitemsoutofbambooandsometimesstilldo. Iassumedthesameaboutseveralotherkanji,buttheiretymologiesinHenshallsurprisedme.Forexample,considerthischaracter: 箱(1703:box) Surelyboxeswerefirstmadeofbamboo,right?Wrong!Thepartbeneathourradicalin箱actsphonetically toexpress"bothsides."Thischaracteroriginallyreferredtobambooframesputoneithersideofacart.Itthencametomean"container"or"box"morebroadly. Thenextetymologiesinvolvebamboousedasapipeortube: 管(443:pipe;toexercisecontrol) Originally,saysHenshall,管depicted"piercedbamboothatcontrolledsound"(i.e.,awindinstrument)butcametorepresentanykindofpipe,aswellas"control."Whatafascinatingdivergenceinmeanings! 笛(1624: woodwindinstrument;whistle;horn) Kanjigensaysthatthe由phoneticcomesfrom抽,whichmeans“toextractthroughasmallhole.”Thus,笛representsan“instrumentthatmakessoundsbypullingairthroughabamboopipe.” 筒(1655:tube) The同componentactsphoneticallyheretoexpress"topass(clear)through"andmaybe"round,"accordingtoHenshall. A(round?)bamboowithaclearpassagethroughitwouldbeabambootube. Here'sonemoreHenshalletymologythatdoesreflectbamboo,butnotitsuseasawood.Rather,thehistoryalludestotheunusualsegmentationinthis plant: 節(523:joint,node;seasonoftheyear;time;festival;paragraph;tune;toeconomize,bemoderate;moralintegrity;bambootallyusedinancientChina) Thepartunderourradicalactsphoneticallytoexpress"division,"alsolendinganideaof"order"(fromtheseatingorderatatable).Alltogether,節meant"ordereddivisionofbamboo,"areferencetothewayitsnodesandsectionsareordered.Fromtherethemeaningsextendedinvariousdirections. PhotoCredit:EveKushner Fromlefttoright,herearethekanjionthissign: 竹工芸翠屋 BambooCraftMidoriya 竹工芸(たけこうげい:bamboocraft);  翠屋(みどりや:"greenstore")  The翠isnon-Joyo.Thestore,whichisintheincredibleYanakaGinzaareaofTokyo,sellsbaskets,chopsticks,andthelikemadeofbamboo.Notethatthesignismadeofwood,notbamboo! UnexpectedUsesof竹 Ifyoulikesurprises,Henshallprovidesmanyotherswhereourradicalisconcerned.Forinstance,hesaysthatalthoughit'salmostunheardof,the"bamboo"radicalactsasaphoneticintwoJoyokanji: 答(185:answer) 篤(1666:cordial,courteous;serious,earnest;devoted)  Withregardto篤,Henshallsaysthat馬is"horse"andthat竹uncharacteristicallyservesasaphoneticthat expresses"step,"possiblyalsolendingconnotationsof"strongbutsupple."Hesaysthat篤originallyreferredtoa"horsesteppingsurefootedly(withsupplenessandstrength?)." Asfor答,Henshallpresentsacomplicateddiscussion.Therelevantparthereisthat"mostunusuallyforaradical,竹isusedphonetically."In答itexpresses"firm."(Kanjigendisagrees,sayingthat答hasnophonetic.) Thenextkanjialsohasanunexpectedconnectiontofirmness: 箇(1054:counterforthings;item,place) The固means"hard,solid."Originally,saysHenshallinhisneweredition,箇wasacounterforlengthsofbamboo.  Givenitsfirmnessanditstendencytosplinter,bambooisanunlikelythingtofindinthebody.Nevertheless,considerthesetwokanji: 笑(900:tolaugh,smile) 筋(843:muscle;threadlikestructure)    Actually,笑didn'toriginallycontainbamboo.Thetoppartisalongstandingmiscopyingofthe"grass"radical.Thebottompartwasalsoconfusedwithanotherkanji. Asfor筋,Henshallsaysthatthe肋means"rib"—namely,thatwhichgivesstrengthtotheflesh.Theribsofabambooplantareits"fibers,"hesays,notingthat筋originallymeant"fibers."Thischaractercametomean"thread,"with"sinew"and"muscle"beingassociatedmeanings. It'seasyforallthesewordstoflybylikesomuch"blahblahblah."Let'stakeamomenttoconsiderhowwonderfulthatimageis.Ribsstrengthenamammal'sflesh,justasbamboofibersstrengthenaplant.And筋startedoutmeaning"fibers"butthenturnedinto"muscles."Soinasense,thereareribbones(肋)insidemuscles(筋)! PhotoCredit:EveKushner Signforanizakaya(bar,pub)called笑太(しょうた).Lookhowourradicalhasturnedintoapairofeyes! Although笑hastheJoyoon-yomiofショウ,thetypicalwaysofwritingthegivennameしょうたare翔太and将太.(Thenon-Joyo翔means"tosoar,"and将means"commander;general;leader.")Using笑inthisnamemaybewordplay. BambooTallies Wesawtheword"tally"inonedefinitionof523(節)—thatis,"bambootallyusedinancientChina."Henshallalsomentionstalliesinhisetymologiesofthesetwokanji: 籍(1486:register) 符(1753:symbol,sign,mark)    For籍,hesaysthatthelowerleftpartmayrepresenta"serratedpieceofwood"ora"tally"or"pledge."  With符,Henshallsaysthattheradicalindicatesa"bambootallycutintwoandthenjoineduponfulfillmentofanagreement."Asthe付means"tojoin,"符originallymeant"tojointallies"butlatercametorefertothetallyitself. Allthatisfine,butwhatintheworldisatally?! Indefining符,HalpernsaysthatparticularlyinancientChina,peoplewouldsplittalliesofwoodorbambooinhalfandusethosepiecesforidentification.Sowasatallylikeadriver'slicense?Orwasitmorelikethetagonewouldattachtoluggage?  Wrongonbothaccounts!Wikipedia saysthattallies(符)weretypicallymadeofbambooorwood,thoughmetal(gold,silver,bronze)andjadewerealsopossible.Theyweremostlyshapedliketigers,butdragons,turtles,snakes,fish,andhumanswerealsopossibleshapes. Peopleusedtalliesasproofofauthorization.Forinstance,akingwouldhavetwo-piecesetoftigertallies(虎符)andkeeponepiecewiththecentralgovernmentwhileissuingthematchingpiecetoarmyofficials.Beforecommandingtroopstoleaveacertainarea,anarmyofficerwouldneedtoshowthecorrecttally,provingthathehadtherighttomakesuchanorder.Ah,apre-electronicpassword! PhotoCredit:GaryLeeTodd AtigertallyfromthesecondcenturyBCE.Madeofbronzewithgoldinlay,thistallywasfoundinaking'stombinGuangzhou,China. CountingThingsandKeepingRecords Ithoughttallyingwasaboutcounting,soitmadeperfectsensetometoseethreekanjirelatedtotalliesandthenseveralmoreaboutquantifyingthingsorkeepingrecords.NowIknowthatthere'snoconnectionwhatsoever!Anyway,thesefivekanjiinvolvecountingorrecordkeeping: 算(128: calculation) 第(339:ordinalnumbersuffix) 等(361:equal,same;class,rank,etc.) 簡(829:simple) 簿(1790:recordbook) Thatis,算originallymeant"touseabambooabacus"andhasevolvedtomean"tocalculate."(Scholarsbelievethatthebottompartshowstwohandsholdinganabacus.) Intheotherfour,the竹represents"bambootabletsusedforkeepingrecords." I'veneverseencontinuityacrossthatmanykanji!Henshalldifferentiatestheminthisway: 第(339:ordinalnumbersuffix):Thepartthatisn't竹hastodowith"order,"so第means"toputbambootabletsinorder,"leadingto"order/sequence"ingeneral. 等(361:equal,same;class,rank):The寺actsphoneticallytoexpress"arrange."Thus,等means"toarrangebambootablets"byhand,whichhastodowithputtingtheminequalgroups,whichextendedtovariousmeaningssuchas"class"and"equal." 簡(829:simple):The間means"space."Thus,簡isa"bamboorecordwithspace(left),"indicatingthattherecordissimpleandbrief.That'sverycool—andsimpleandbrief! 簿(1790:recordbook):Thebottompartmeans"extensive,"alsoactingphoneticallytoexpress"tobind."Thus簿referredto"an(extensive?)collectionofbambootabletsboundtogether,"whichistosay"aregister"or"setofrecords." PhotoCredit:EveKushner PhotoCredit:EveKushner ThissignpostfromKamakuraincludes等(361:equal,same;class,rank,etc.),竹(170:bamboo),and築(751:toconstruct)!Thetext(whichiscutoff)saysthatinthatarea,oneneedspermissiontodosuchthingsasbuilding,rebuilding,oraddingtoabuilding;changingthecharacteroftheland;orcuttingdowntreesorbamboo. Three More BambooItems IwouldberemissifIdidn'tdirectyoutothree moregreatbamboo-relateditems. First,thelateMarySiskNoguchiwroteapithyandinterestingJapanTimescolumn onthe"bamboo"radicalaspartofherKanjiClinicseries.  Second,Wikipediahasahelpfulwrite-upofthecounterケ,explaininghowitevolvedfromourradical. Third,thenextimageisof a teatowelthat doublesasawallhanging. The artistisEllieFidler. Bamboofeaturesprominentlyin thispiece,andifyoulookcloselyyou'llalsoseekanji!  RelatedEssays Note:Anessaythatisn'thyperlinkedisforthcoming. 箇(1054:counterforthings;item,place) 笛(1624: woodwindinstrument;whistle;horn) 籠(1983:basket;cage;confinement;seclusion;tofill) 箋(2048:pieceofpaper,tag) 箸(2094:chopsticks) AllRadicalNotes 1.The"One"Radical:一 2.The"Rod"Radical:| 3.The"Dot"Radical:丶 4.The"KatakanaNo"Radical:丿 5.The"Fishhook"Radical:乙and乚 6.The"Barb"Radical:亅 7.The"Two"Radical:二 8.The"Lid"Radical:亠 9.The"Person"Radical:人,亻,... 10.The"Legs"Radical:儿 11.The"Enter"Radical:入 12.The"Eight"Radical:八   1of14 ›› RadicalNotesHome Advertisements PrivacyPolicy