The short story of Kanji pictures
This kanji is made of two parts. On the left is the ‘road’ radical. On the right is an element showing two feet walking around in opposite directions, with a mouth radical inside. Combined, this kanji originally represented ‘difference’—taking a different path or thinking and acting in a unique way.
This kanji is made of two parts. On the left is the ‘thread’ radical. On the right is an element showing two feet walking around in opposite directions, with a mouth radical inside. Combined, this kanji originally represented the ‘weft’—the horizontal thread that moves back and forth during weaving. By extension, it came to mean ‘latitude,’ as well as horizontal structure or coordinates.