The short story of Kanji pictures
The character is originally a mirror image of the kanji“后” (kou)that represents a person carefully listening to the words of their predecessor.
While “后(kou)” implies internal succession, this kanji means a successor who handles external affairs and public administration.Therefore, it came to mean “to govern,” “to manage,” or “an official in charge.”
The Kanji originally represented a person carefully listening to the words of their predecessor.From this visual origin, its meaning evolved into “the successor who carries on the work of the founding ruler.“Later, this concept of a crucial royal successor led to its modern meaning of “queen” or “empress.”
The upper radical signifies ‘plants’ or ‘leaves,’ while the lower component depicts a mouth stimulated by a harsh taste, meaning ‘bitter.’ Consequently, the kanji represents ‘bitterness’ and, by extension, ‘suffering.’ As the old proverb goes, ‘Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional.
This kanji is composed of two parts: ‘words’ on the left, which signifies a sacred promise to God made with a sword and a mouth, and ‘tongue’ on the right, which shows a tongue coming out of a mouth. Therefore, the combination of these elements creates the meaning ‘to speak’.
This kanji depicts a mouth enclosed by corner brackets. Therefore, it represents a group of words set apart, meaning a ‘phrase’.
As you can see, this kanji simply depicts the shape of a human mouth.
In this figure, you can clearly see a person whistling with their mouth wide open. This character perfectly captures that distinct, musical action to mean ‘whistle’.
How do you see this character’s shape? It symbolizes the face of a cow with two sharp horns, with a protective wooden bar securely fastened across them. This reflects an ancient custom designed to protect people from the danger of being gored. Therefore, this character has come to represent ‘caution’.
