RTK Lesson 8

Question 1

Stream

Answer 1

川

134

We have taken the image of a river stream over into English to describe things that fall down in straight lines, streamlined, or ripple along in lines. All of this is more than evident in the kanji given here, a pictograph of a stream.

*As a primitive, this character adds to the meaning of stream the more vivid image of a flood. Note, however, that there are certain changes in the writing of the element, depending on where it appears relative to other elements:

On the left is is written: 川

On the top it is written: 巛

On the bottom it is written: 川 with the last stroke like the fish hook.

Question 2

State

Answer 2

州

135 (Drop of, Stream)

Here we see drops of land (little islets) rising up out of a stream, creating a kind of sandbar or breakwater. Ever wonder how the state-line is drawn between states separated by a river? If there were little drops of land as in the kanji, there’d be nothing to it. [6]

Question 3

Obey

Answer 3

順

136 (Stream, Head)

In primitive language, this character would read stream… head. And that turns out to be convenient for remembering this meaning of obey. Either one obeys the person who is head of an organization or else obeys by following the stream of opinion (“current” practice, we will call it). Both of these senses come together in this kanji. [12]

Question 4

Water

Answer 4

水

137

This kanji, which looks a but like a snowflake, is actually a pictograph of water.-not any particular body of water or movement of water, but simply the generic name for water. Should you have any difficulty remembering it, simply think of a walking stick being dropped vertically into water, sending droplets out in all four directions. Then all you need to learn is the proper stroke order.

*As a primitive, this character can keep its form, or it can be written with these drops to the left of another primitive, like this: 氵。The latter, as we will see, is much more common. [4]

Question 5

Icicle

Answer 5

氷

138 (Water, Drop of)

The appearance of the primitive water in its full form tells us that we have something to do with water here. The extra drop to the left, added as a second stroke, changes the picture from a splash caused by a walking stick into water to form an icicle. If it helps, when you hold an icicle up to the light, you can usually see little crystallizations of five-pointed stars inside of it, which is the shape we have for this kanji. [5]

Question 6

Eternity

Answer 6

永

139 (This kanji also uses the full form of water, though its meaning seems to have nothing to do with water. Remember what William Blake said about seeing “infinity in a grain of sand and eternity in an hour”? Well, reading this character from top to bottom, we see “eternity in a drop of water.” [5]

Question 7

Spring

Answer 7

泉

140 (White, Water)

Call to mind the image of a fresh, bubbling spring of water, and you will probably notice how the top of the spring you are thinking of, the part where the “bubbling” goes on, is all white. Happily, the white is just where it should be, at the top, and the water is at the bottom.

*We will keep this image of a spring when using this kanji as a primitive, but not without first drawing attention to a slight change that distinguishes the primitive from the kanji. The final 4 strokes (the element for water) are abbreviated to the three small drops we learned earlier as the kanji for little, giving us 白on top of 小.

Question 8

Gland

Answer 8

腺

141 (Flesh, Spring)

Dig into your flesh and pull out a lymph gland. Now give it a squeeze and watch a spring of lymph spout out of it. [13]

Question 9

Meadow

Answer 9

原

142 (Cliff, Spring)

Though the kanji is broad enough to embrace both meanings, the meadow you should imagine here is not a flatland plain but a mountain meadow in the Austrian Alps. (Perhaps the opening scene of “The Sound of Music” will help). Simply think of little springs bubbling up across the meadow to form a sort of path that leads you right to the brink of a precipitous cliff. Now if you see Schwester Maria skipping along merrily, dodging in and out of the springs, and then falling headlong over the cliff, you have a ridiculous story that should help fix this kanji in memory.

Question 10

Petition

Answer 10

願

143 (Meadow, Head)

A meadow and a head are all we are given to work with in the kanji for petition. Since the key word already suggests something like a formal request make of some higher power, let us imagine a gigantic Wizard of Oz head located in the middle of a flowery meadow we used in the last frame. Then just picture people kneeling hopefully before it, petitioning for whatever it is they want. (The scarecrow wanted brains, the lion, courage, and the tin man a heart. What about you?) [19]

Question 11

Swim

Answer 11

泳

144 (Water, Eternity)

The primitive to the left, you will recall from FRAME 137, represents water. To the right, we see the kanji for eternity. Knowing how much children like swimming, what could be better image of eternal bliss than an endless expanse of water to swim in without a care in the world?

Question 12

Marsh

Answer 12

沼

145 (Water, Seduce)

Unlike the meadow with its cliffs, the marshlands area low and near a source of water that feeds them until they get soggy through and through. Why certain land becomes marshy is probably due to the fact that it felt thirsty, and so it tried its best to seduce the water other to its side. But, like most inordinate seductions, the last state of the victim is worse than the first. Hence, the slushy marsh. [8]

Question 13

Open Sea

Answer 13

沖

146 (Water, In)

This kanji could hardly be simpler. The key word open sea readily suggests being out in the middle of a great body of water. Thinking of it in this way should avoid confusion with the kanji for “open,” which we will meet later on. [7]

Question 14

Pan-

Answer 14

汎

145 (Water, Mediocre)

The sense of the key word here is “all-inclusive” we find in terms like Pan-American Games. (It is also the character in mathematics for “partial” as in partial differentials, in case you are a math major and want to take it in that direction.) Instead of a water sports event that brings together the best talent, think of a meet of the region’s most mediocre athletes, many of whom cannot even tread water. Now try to find a sponsor for the “Pan-Mediocre Water Sports Competition.” [6]

Question 15

Creek

Answer 15

江

146 (Water, Craft)

Unlike the river, the lake, and the pond, the creek is often no more than a dribble of water trickling down a small gully. While the geographical history of larger bodies of water is hard to surmise sometimes, all of us know from our childhood how creeks are made. You probably even dug one or two in your time. All you need to do is find a mainstream of water somewhere and dig a little path into dry land. The creek is thus a lesson in water-craft, as this kanji would agree.

Question 16

Cleanse

Answer 16

汰

149 (Water, Plump)

This character can mean both to cleanse and to make dirty. We will choose the latter and imagine someone who is displeasingly plump going to a skinny spa whose medicinal waters promise to cleanse him of his unwanted corpulence. Picture him sitting in the spa as the pounds melt away, leaving a greasy sum on top of the water. [7]

Question 17

Soup

Answer 17

汁

150 (Water, Ten)

To make soup, one begins with water and then starts adding things to it, often leftovers fro the icebox. This is how the thick soup or stew called “seven-in-one” is made. This kanji does it three better, giving us a ten-ingredient soup. [5]

Question 18

Grains of Sand

Answer 18

沙

151 (Water, Few)

We have already learned the Kanji for sand (FRAME 122), so let’s use it to remember the character for grains of sand. Instead of the “few stones” that make for nice sand, here we have a few drops of water, one for each grain of sand-a beach in perfect ecological balance. [7]

Question 19

Tide

Answer 19

潮

152 (Water, Morning)

To get into the meaning of the key word tide, just think of it in connection to the character we learned for eventide that we learned back in FRAME 115. Here we have the morning-tide, it’s complement. [15]

Question 20

Source

Answer 20

源

153 (Water, Meadow)

Water and meadow is what we have to make the Kanji for source. Both in its etymology (it has a common parent with the word “surge”) and in popular usage, source suggests the place water comes from. In this kanji, it is under the meadow, where wee just saw it breaking the surface of those bubbling springs. [13]

Question 21

Lively

Answer 21

活

154 (Water, Tongue)

When we speak of a lively personality or a lively party, we immediately think of a lot of chatter. Thin kanji depicts the idea of lively by having tongues babble and splash around like flowing water. [9]

Question 22

Extinguish

Answer 22

消

155 (Water, Spark)

Among the many things water is useful for is extinguishing fires, and that is just what we have here. First of all, take the water at the left as the drops of water used to depict water in general. In the best of all possible worlds, the most efficient way to extinguish a fire would be to see that each drop of water hit one spark of conflagration. An unthinkable bit of utopian fire fighting, you say to yourself, but helpful for assigning the key word its primitive. [10]

Question 23

But of course

Answer 23

況

156 (Water, Teenager)

This key word is a connector used to link contrasting phrases and sentences together with such the same flavor as the English phrase but of course. Just picture yourself ready to go out on your first date as a teenager, and having your mother grill you about manners and ask you embarrassing questions about your hygiene. “Did you take a shower?” “But of course…,” you reply, annoyed. So water and teenager combine to give us but of course. [8]

Question 24

River

Answer 24

河

157 (Water, Can)

The character in this frame represent a step us from the steam engine we met in FRAMA 134; it is a full river. The water to the left tells us what we are dealing with, and the can at the right tells us that our “little engine that could” has now become amphibious and is chugging down the Mighty Mississip’ like a regular riverboat. [8]

Question 25

Overnight

Answer 25

泊

158 (Water, White)

When you stop at an inn for an overnight rest, all you except is a bit of water for a wash and a set of clean white sheets to wrap your weary bones in. [8]

Question 26

Lake

Answer 26

湖

159 (Water, Old, Flesh)

You have heard of the legends of people being abandoned in the mountains when they become too old to work. Well, here is a legend about people being set adrift in the waters of a stormy lake because their flesh has gotten too old to bear the burdens of life.

Question 27

Fathom

Answer 27

測

160 (Water, Rule)

Connoting the measurement of depth of water, the key word fathom begins with the water primitive. To its right, we see the compound-primitive rule. (FRAME 92) which we learned in the sense of ruler or measure. Hence, when we rule water we fathom it. What could be simpler? But be careful; its simplicity if deceptive. Be sure to picture yourself fathoming a body of water several hundred feet deep by using a ruler of gargantuan proportions. [12]

Question 28

Soil

Answer 28

土

161

I don’t like it anymore than you do, but this kanji is not the pictograph it is trumped up to be: a mound of soil piled on the ground. All I can recommend is that you memorize it as it is. Anyway, it will be occurring with such frequency that you have almost no chance of forgetting it, even if you try.

*As a primitive, the sense of soil is extended to that of ground because of its connection with the kanji for the same (FRAME 554). From there it also takes the added meaning of dirt and land.

Question 29

Spit

Answer 29

吐

162 (Mouth, Dirt)

We have here a rather small mouth (it is always compressed when set on the left) next to a much larger piece of dirt. It is not hard to imagine what you might do if you got a mouth full of dirt. As I know what I would do: spit it out as fast and far as I could! [6]

Question 30

Pressure

Answer 30

圧

163 (Cliff, Soil)

One of the things that causes the erosion of soil is the excessive pressure of topsoil on the lower soil. This can be caused by any number of things such as rainfall to heavy buildings to the absence of sufficient deep-rooted vegetation to hold the layers together. Here we see a steep cliff without a tree in sight. The slightest pressure on it will cause a landslide, which, with a little help from your imagination, you will be able to see happening in this character.

Question 31

Cape

Answer 31

埼

164 (Land, Strange)

The cape pictured here is a jut of land like Cape Cod. The soil on the left tells us we have we have to do with land, and the strange on the right tells us it is a cape where unusual things go on. Put a haunted house on it, an eerie sky overhead, and a howling wind rustling through the trees, and you have a picture of Cape Strange (or, if you prefer, Cape Odd). [11]

Question 32

Hedge

Answer 32

垣

165 (Ground, Span)

The hedge depicted in this frame is not your ordinary run-of-the-suburbs shrubbery, but the miraculous hedge of briar roses that completely spanned the castle grounds in which Sleeping Beauty lay for a hundred years, so that none but her predestined beloved could find his way through it. [9]

Question 33

Inlay

Answer 33

填

166 (Soil, Truth)

When we hear the word inlay, we usually think of setting precious stones in pieces of jewelry, but the primitive elements here suggest truth being inlaid in the soil. You might think of instead of cosmic wisdom that inlaid the truth of the universe in the stuff of the earth.

Question 34

Squared Jewel

Answer 34

圭

167 (Soil [x2])

The kanji key word, square jewel, depicts a mammoth precious stone, several feet high, made by piling soil on top of another. Not something you would present to your betrothed on her wedding day, but a good image for remembering this rare character, used chiefly in personal names nowadays. [6]

*As a primitive, we shall use this character to mean ivy, that creepy vegetation that covers the surface of the ground to form a sort of “second” ground that can get somewhat tricky to walk on without tripping.

Question 35

Seal

Answer 35

封

168 (Ivy, Glue)

Think of the key word seal as referring to a letter you have written and are prepared to close. Instead of using the traditional wax seal, you glue a sprig of ivy on the outside. In this way the elements ivy and glue give you a curious and memorable way to seal your secret letters. [9]

Question 36

Horizon

Answer 36

涯

169 (Water, Cliff, Ivy)

After seeing a constant horizon of water, water everywhere for months at sea, could there be anything more delightful to the eyes than to look astern and se ivy-clad cliffs of land on a new horizon? Of course, you’d need eyes of a stellar telescope to recognize that the vegetation was in fact ivy, but the phrase “ivy-clad cliffs” has such a nice ring to it that we won’t worry about such details. [11]

Question 37

Buddhist Temple

Answer 37

寺

170 (Land, Glue)

You have heard of people “attaching” themselves to a particular sect? Here is a chance to take the metaphor literally and imagine some fellow walking into a Buddhist Temple with a servant resolve to attach himself to the place. Since there is plenty of unused land around the precincts, he simply picks out a suitable patch of patch brushes the soles of his feet with glue, steps down firmly, and so joins the Buddhist Temple as a “permanent member.” [6]

Question 38

Time

Answer 38

時

171 (Sun, Buddhist)

“What is time?” Asked St. Augustine in his memoirs. “Ask me not, and I know. Ask me, and I cannot tell you.” Here we have the kanji’s answer to that perennial riddle. Time is a sun rising over a Buddhist Temple. It sounds almost like a Zen Koan whose repetition might yield some deep secret to the initiated. At any rate, imagine a monk seated in meditation pondering it might help us remember the character. [10]

Question 39

Level

Answer 39

均

172 (Soil, Ladle, Drop of)

The level for this key word refers to is not the carpenters’ tool but rather the even surface of a thing. It pictures soil being scooped up into a ladle and then made level (apparently because one is measuring soil). The excess drop of soil are dropped off the top, which accounts for the added drop at the ladle’s edge).

Question 40

Fire

Answer 40

火

173

Just sitting before a fire enlivens the imagination and lets you see almost anything you want in the flames, this kanji is so simple it lets you see almost any sort of fire you want to see. It no longer makes a good pictograph, but I invite you to take a pencil and paper and play with the form - first writing it as shown and then adding lines here and there - see what you can come up with. Everything from matchbooks to cigarette lighters to volcanic eruptions to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah have been found here. No doubt you, too, will find something interesting to bend your memory around these four simple strokes. [4]

*To avoid confusion later on, it is best to keep the meaning of a fireplace (hearth) or raging conflagration like a first fire for this kanji’s primitive meaning. Another primitive element for fire, based on this one, is written 灬　and will mean flames, cauldron, cooking fire, or an oven fire.

Question 41

Inflammation

Answer 41

炎

174 (Fire [x2])

A fire belongs IN the hearth, not OVER it. When the fire spreads to the rest of the house, we have an inflamed house. And as with any inflammation-including those that attack our baddies-the danger is always that it might spread if not checked. This is the sense behind the reduplication of the element for fire, one atop the other. [8]

Question 42

Anxiety

Answer 42

煩

175 (Fire, Head)

The existential condition of anxiety that arises from the inevitable table of frustration of our world passions is contained in this character. The head is set afire, causing deep torment of spirit (and a whopper headache). [175]

Question 43

Thin

Answer 43

淡

176 (Water, Inflammation)

The primitive for this kanji read: water… inflammation. Taking inflammation in its medicinal sense, the first water related inflammation that pops to mind is dehydration, the principal symptom which is that it makes one shrivel up and look very, very thin. If that is hard to remember, try thinking backwards: a very thin chap passes by and you imagine the suffering from (being inflamed with) dehydration (hence the element for water). [11]

Question 44

Lamp

Answer 44

灯

177 (Fireplace, Nail)

Since it is very hard to read by the fireplace without going blind from the flickering of the flames or burning up from heat, our ancestors invented a way to nail down a bit of that fire, just enough to light up the text of their evening newspaper and no more. Voila! The lamp. [6]

Question 45

Farm

Answer 45

畑

178 (Fireplace, Rice Field)

Looking at the primitives, fireplace and rice field, we find the essential ingredients for a farm: a warm hearth to sit by at night, and a well-plowed field to grow one’s crops in by day. [9]

Question 46

Disaster

Answer 46

災

179 (Flood, Fire)

Of all of natures disasters, this kanji picks out two of the worse: floods and fires. To recall the disposition of the elements, think of nature’s solution to nature’s own problem: a great flood pouring down over a great forest fire. [7]

Question 47

Ashes

Answer 47

灰

180 (Cliff, Fire)

The kanji for ashes naturally includes the primitive for fire or more specifically, fireplace. Now what do you do with that bucket of ashes you have cleaned from out of the fireplace? You walk to the edge of a cliff and tip it upside down, watching as they are swept away in the wind like a swarm of gray mosquitoes. Thus, the fire, once it has turned to ashes, ends up at the bottom of thee cliff.

Question 48

Spot

Answer 48

点

181 (Fortune Telling, Fire)

If you look into the flickering of a fire for a long time and then turn aside, you will see spots before your eyes. Although nobody ever thought such a thing before-as at least as far as I know, they didn’t-imagine using those spots as a technique for fortune-telling. The old witch sits before her cauldron and watches the spots that show up when she turns to look at you, and from that tells your fortune. Think of it as a kind of spot-check on your future.

Question 49

Illuminate

Answer 49

照

182 (Shine, Oven’s Fire)

Although the range of possible meanings that the kanji for illuminate can have is about as rich as the connotations of the English word, we need to focus on just one of them: to make something shine. If you glaze a pot and put it in the oven to fire it, you in fact illuminate it. Hence the kanji for illuminate compares the kanji for shining with the primitive element for oven’s fire.

Question 50

Fish

Answer 50

魚

183 (Bound Up, Rice Field, Cooking Fire)

The composition of this kanji shows three elements, which we list in the order of their writing: bound up… rice field… cooking fire. Not much to work with at first sight. But we can join them together by thinking of a three part story: first a fish is caught and bound up on a line with its unfortunate school-mates; when the fisherman gets home, he cuts off the head and tosses it, with the entrails, out into the rice field for fertilizer; and the rest he sets in a skillet over a cooking fire for his supper.

Question 51

Fishing

Answer 51

漁

184 (Water, Fish)

To the story we have just made about fish, this Kanji for the profession of fishing adds yet another element BEFORE the others: namely the water, where the fish was happily at home before being caught, disemboweled, and eaten. Be sure to get a clear image of the water when you put it all together.