How to Remember the Character 查
查(cha2) is composed of 旦 (dawn) and 木 (wood, tree).
It means "to check, examine, look into, investigate". Basically, all verbs that mean to get a view of something in a top-down manner, in the same way we see 木 higher than 旦 in the character.
I can think of two things ancient people built to "check" the horizon for enemies: trees and wooden outposts.
As I said last time, 旦 looks like a sun coming up over the horizon.
How to Remember the Character 担
担 (dan1) is comprised of 手 (hand) and 旦 (dawn). It means "to shoulder" or "to undertake".
The sun rises at "dawn", just as an object rises when one uses their hands to pick it up. We can imagine that the straight line that previously resembled the horizon is now a person's "shoulder".
I also think of those people who need to get up extremely early, with the "dawn", to carry things on their shoulders.
I can think of two things ancient people built to "check" the horizon for enemies: trees and wooden outposts.
As I said yesterday, 旦 looks like a sun coming up over the horizon.
How to Remember the Character 坦
坦 is made up of the characters 旦 (dawn) and 土 (dirt, land). It means level, smooth, calm, or open-hearted. It's pronounced tan3 and is beautifully poetic in meaning.
When one is calm, their emotions are not only smooth, but they tend to be more understanding, and therefore, open-hearted. A human who is lucky enough to see a sunrise at "dawn" across a smooth, flat piece of "land" will start the day off "calm". Hopefully, this will put them in a good enough mood for the rest of the day to be "open-hearted" to everyone.
We can also see the two lines in 土 are "smooth" just like the bottom line in 旦.
Xunzi wrote a lot about being open and honest, even comparing the Way (道) to land. In chapter 14, "On Attracting Men of Worth", he wrote:
"If the state and family lose their proper governance, the well-bred men and common people will abandon them. Without land, there is nowhere for people to dwell securely. Without people, the land will not be guarded. Without the Way and the proper models, people will not come. Without the gentleman (君子), the Way will not be upheld. Thus, as for the way that land goes together with people, and the Way goes together with proper models, these are the fundamental makings of the state and family."
How to Remember the Character 恒
恒 (heng2) means "permanent", "perseverance", or "common".
These three words in English are different from one another, but related abstractly. If something is permanent, it's always there. If something is always around, it becomes common. Similarly, perseverance is where someone is always keeping the same go-getter mindset.
Actually, there is a reason both permanent and perseverance begin with "per". It's Latin for "through", but it also means "to do something so thoroughly that nothing more can be done". In this way, it is similar to 亘, which, as we learned yesterday, means "running all the way through" like the sun that runs across the sky and land.
恒 also contains 心 (heart), which all humans have, making it "common". A heart is a "permanent" part of a human's life. It needs to constantly make sure blood "runs all the way through" the body, which is a sort of "perseverance" in itself.
Therefore, it may be easy to confuse 恒 and 亘 since the heart is to the body as the sun is to life on Earth. However, since all living creatures have hearts, and there is only one sun, hearts are more "common". The sun disappears at night, so it is not as "permanent". "Perseverance" comes from the heart.
A page later, Xunzi follows up with advice of remaining open-hearted, keeping with his core message that kindness is worth more than too much Legalist (法家) punishments:
"In managing affairs and interacting with the people, to change and adapt with yi; to be kind, generous, and broadly accepting , to be reverent and respectful in order to lead them - this is the starting point for government."
A true leader must be like the dawn, inspiring people through their conduct. This is the Way.
Side Lesson: There are some online talking about Intel's Lip-Bu Tan as if he is from China. It can be generally assumed that anyone with a last name "Tan" is from Malaysia or Singapore.
How to Remember the Character 亘
亘(gen4) is the character for dawn "旦" with an extra line above. It means "to extend across" or "to run all the way through".
We know that 日 means sun. Now the two lines resemble the sky and the ground. The sun's light "extends across" both the sky and the ground. Throughout the course of a day, it also "runs all the way through" the sky.
How to Remember the Character 渣
渣 (zha1) means "dregs". It's made up of 水 (water) and 查 (to check, investigate, or look into). 查 helps us know the pronunciation of this new character, as it is pronounced cha2 and zha1 rhymes with this.
We also know 查 can be broken down to mean 木 (tree) and 旦 (dawn). 木 is also one of the 五行 (the Five Elements). It resembles "growth" and "springtime". Therefore, it is reminiscent of plants.
When we think of dawn, plants, and water, we think of morning dew. As dregs are for drinks, morning dew is the last remaining vestige of the night.
When I taught 查, I also said to imagine the tree character was a tree or wooden outpost in ancient times used by society to scan the horizon for enemies. With 渣, we can use the same concept, except now 旦 looks like a cup on a table. The 木 still reminds us of observing from overhead and the 水 reminds us we are looking into a cup that was once full of liquid.
Do you have an easier way to remember this character?
How to Remember the Character 宣
宣 (xuan1) is made up of 宀 (roof) and 亘 (to extend across). It means "to declare/declare" or "to summon to the imperial court by an imperial edict".
The roof tells us this has something to do with a building, therefore, the imperial court. When an emperor "announced" an order from the imperial court, its ruling usually "extended across" all of the empire.
How to Remember the Character 喧/吅
Yesterday, I wrote that the character 宣 (xuan1) means "to announce" or "to summon to the imperial court by an imperial edict". If we add a 口 (mouth) character to this, it becomes 喧, which means "to make noise" or "noisy".
Here, the 口 basically emphasizes the use of sound. Imagine that someone is trying to announce something while another mouth is talking.
This may be why 喧 can also be written like 吅, which contains two 口. When two people are talking at once, it can become noisy.
How to Remember the Character 暄
暄 (xuan1) is made up of 宣 (to announce) and 日 (sun), it means "warm, comfortable, sunny".
This character has two suns. It's very "sunny". The sun also makes us "warm".
宣 in this new character almost resembles a house with a window. The 宀 reminds us that the character has something to do with a building, and 宣 can also mean "to invite to the imperial court to give an edict". When a person sits by a window with sunlight coming through, it can be very comfortable.
All of these characters make the same sound "xuan1". To an English speaker, this may seem confusing, but it's very rare someone will need to use the words "sunny", "loud", and "announce" in the same sentence, and I haven't even mentioned that most modern Chinese words consist of two characters or more.
How to Remember the Character 渲
渲 (xuan4) means to apply color to a drawing. It is comprised of 宣 (to announce) and 水 (water, liquid).
Paint is a type of "liquid". When it is added to a picture, it becomes more expressive; it "announces" itself more.
How to Remember the Character 间
间 (jian1) is composed of 门 (door) and 日 (sun). It means "the space between", "in between", "the time in between", or "room".
Time and rooms abstractly are both "space".
This character originally meant "to see the moon's light through the cracks between doors". As 月 (moon) looks similar to 日, it makes sense this change would happen.
Even so, during the daytime, the sun's light comes through the tiny "space in between" doors and the wall or doors and the floor.
How to Remember the Character 月
月 (yue4) means "moon" or "month". Before the modern era, China followed a lunar calendar, meaning the moon's phases were used to keep track of time. This had 12 months like the solar calendar.
月 looks like 日 (sun, day), but is bigger. While the sun is actually bigger than the moon, it was once less important, meaning it played a smaller role, in Chinese culture.
How to Remember the Character 明
明 (ming2) combies 日 (sun, day) and 月 (moon, month). It means "bright, to understand, to make clear, public/open, wise, immediately following in time".
Generally, just remember it means "bright", since in English this word means both "wise" and "giving out a lot of light".
However, if one is wise, they understand. If something is understood, it is clear. If something or someone is clear, they are open or their desires are made public.
The sun and moon are the brightest objects known to mankind. Without them, we couldn't have the light to understand the world around us.
The sun appears "immediately following" the time when the moon disappears.