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In this book the general trend in interpretation of these two elements has been
followed, and so the basic meaning of (determinative 34) is provisionally taken
to be ‘descend, come down’, or ‘descending foot’, while (determinative 35) is taken
as ‘drag the foot, walk slowly’.
2. ⽉ as a Component Shape
The characters ‘lung(s)’ 968, ‘(Imperial) We’ 1731, and ‘fine, cheerful’ 1005
all feature the element written in the same shape as ‘moon’ in modern usage, but
in these three cases only carries the meaning ‘moon’ in . In , the left-hand
element is the abbreviated form of in compound graphs (such as ), and in
the left-hand element is an abbreviation of ‘boat’ in compound graphs. According
to Qiu, the merging and confusion of the shape of these elements in compound
graphs can be seen as early as the clerical script stage. In the earlier part of the modern
period, distinctions used to be made in the traditional forms of Ming printed
font to reflect the earlier usage, but those distinctions were dispensed with through
the process of script simplification. The correct interpretation of in a particular
case is explained in the individual entries.
3. 壬 as a Component Shape
The characters 785 ‘duty’ and 1742 ‘court, government office’ both share
as a right-hand element in modern texts. In , the right-hand element (meaning
‘spindle’) retains its etymologically correct shape (middle horizontal stroke longer
than bottom horizontal). In , though, the right-hand was originally slightly different
in shape, i.e., (originally meaning ‘person standing on earthen mound’, leading
to the extended sense ‘surpass others’), with the middle horizontal stroke shorter
than the horizontal stroke beneath it to represent ‘earth’. Just as in the case of
as a component shape (see the immediately preceding section), this subtle distinction
in shape is no longer supported in standard fonts for Japanese: only the shape
is supported. Explanation regarding the distinction is included in individual entries
for relevant graphs.
4. ⼔ as a Component Shape
In Japanese usage, the character ‘change’ 258, for example, is written withas the
right-hand element, but the traditional form has . Originally, at the OBI stage as
an independent character was a pictograph of a person upside down, while
originally depicted a person’s withered/bent leg, or (by analogy based on the shape)
a ladle. In standard Japanese usage, though, the two shapes have been regularized
as . Explanation regarding the above distinction is included in individual entries
for relevant graphs.
Appendix 701