The Role of the “Youth/Essence” 青/靑 Character in Chinese Writing
by
Jennifer Ball and Xu Chao
Using a Hanzi substructure-search engine designed by Xu Chao and Jennifer Ball
Nov. 11, 2018
Thanks to Chinese Text Project, Wiktionary, and Github for definitions and characters
|
Unicode |
Character |
Definition |
Commentary |
Sex/Invitation (33%) |
||||
1 |
\U7CBE |
精 |
essence; semen; spirit |
On the left is rice 米, which is a seed. On the right is flesh (moon/month) 月 on the bottom and a kind of explosion at top, similar to birth 生. Ejaculation is an explosion of seed/semen from flesh which often results in birth. |
2 |
\U570A |
圊 |
rest room, pigsty |
Historically men purify themselves by ejaculation, which is what this seems to represent. A pigsty is also where pigs breed. The commonality is semen. |
3 |
\U60C5 |
情 |
feeling, sentiment, emotion |
Heart was most likely originally a penis (see precursors to 心 and 姦 on Hanziyuan.net); a man’s emotion is often felt in his loins, where his “essence” is. |
4 |
\U731C |
猜 |
guess, conjecture, suppose; feel [to suspect; to have a suspicion; suspicion; jealousy—Wiktionary] |
The biggest question is “Who’s the father.” If you don’t know, then the child is ‘son of a bitch.” This is a visual representation of that concept, which is why “suspicion” is a key meaning of this “dog jism” character. |
5 |
\U9753 |
靓 |
make up face; ornament; quiet |
Men are attracted to women wearing makeup. |
6 |
\U975A |
靚 |
make up face; ornament; quiet; (Cant.) pretty |
Men are attracted to women wearing makeup. |
7 |
\U4A1D |
䨝 |
a pure woman; name of a goddess of frost and snow |
“Pure” and “impure” are euphenisms for “virgin” and “slut.” “Frost” shares an association with “frigid,” which implies “virgin.” |
8 |
\U5A67 |
婧 |
modest; supple |
“Supple” means able to move in all directions, “modest” would seem to negate that: both are desired by men of women, especially as related to sex. |
9 |
\U5029 |
倩 |
beautiful, lovely; son-in-law |
A son-in-law is the essence of “beautiful, lovely” if you’re trying to sell your daughter. |
10 |
\U6385 |
掅 |
(Cant.) to lift up; to seize, grab |
Could this represent masturbation? |
11 |
\U478D |
䞍 |
(simplified form of U+477C 䝼) to bestow, to confer upon; to grant to |
Bestowing the seed? |
12 |
\U477C |
䝼 |
to bestow, to confer upon; to grant to |
Bestowing the seed? A little homonculus? |
13 |
\U8BF7 |
请 |
ask, request; invite; please |
The biggest request is “Will you accept my ‘essence?’” |
14 |
\U8ACB |
請 |
ask, request; invite; please |
Motherhood is often the result of a request never voiced. |
|
Unicode |
Character |
Definition |
Commentary |
Color/Sight/Youth/Essence (23%) |
||||
15 |
\U9751 |
靑 |
blue |
Essence of anything, which in human psyche is often represented by color. Could the bottom represent eyes 巴 (which see color) and also the gate 門 (which is a euphemistic name for the hymen/vagina and which allows semen in and babies out)? This could explain why the same character men2 means “gate,” as well as why—with the addition of “man”亻— it becomes the pluralizing marker, because that exactly describes a hymen. It also resembles 卵, especially when comparing Seal Script. |
16 |
\U9752 |
青 |
blue, green, black; young; blue-green; luxuriant; lush; exuberant; young; adolescent; east; spring; ripening crops |
The essence of male youth is the ability ejaculate easily. This ability is a constant focus of men. It is all about being young. This character is about essence, which is often represented by color or semen. The addition of this character to another seems to enhance or describe the second character’s “true feature,” such as 青蛙 “frog, ugly guy”; 晴天 “blue sky, honorable”; 青楼 “brothel”: essence of frog, essence of heaven, essence of buildings. |
17 |
\U975B |
靛 |
indigo; any blue dye |
定 adds the fixative to blue. |
18 |
\U7DAA |
綪 |
dark red |
The eventual color of fine silk 糸 when used for menstruation? |
19 |
\U4A3C |
䨼 |
dyestuff ( of dark green) |
Redying stained material? 蒦 “to measure; to calculate.” |
20 |
\U6DF8 |
淸 |
clear |
Essence of seeing blue skies? |
21 |
\UFA12 |
clear weather |
Essence or experience of seeing blue skies 立 immediately? |
|
22 |
\U6674 |
晴 |
clear weather, fine weather |
Essence of seeing blue skies? |
23 |
\U6E05 |
清 |
clear, pure, clean; peaceful |
Essence of seeing blue water? |
24 |
\U775B |
睛 |
eyeball; pupil of eye |
Essence of eye color. |
|
Unicode |
Character |
Definition |
Commentary |
Beast/Plant/Tool (21%) |
||||
25 |
\U9D84 |
鶄 |
a kind of water bird |
Could the long beak of water birds have seemed phallic to early Chinese writers? |
26 |
\U4D16 |
䴖 |
a kind of water bird |
Water and semen have strong association. Also water and birds. |
27 |
\U873B |
蜻 |
dragonfly |
Essence of insect (due to its shiny color and phallic representation?). |
28 |
\U83C1 |
菁 |
flower of leek family; turnip |
Aphrodisac? due to strong smell? Also apple- and breast-like. |
29 |
\U84A8 |
蒨 |
lush vegetation, luxuriant growth |
Lush growth is an outcome of lots of procreation. |
30 |
\U9CAD |
鲭 |
mackerel |
Aphrodisac? due to strong smell? |
31 |
\U9BD6 |
鯖 |
mackerel |
Aphrodisac? due to strong smell? |
32 |
\U4476 |
䑶 |
sprightly boat; light boat |
“Sprightly” suggests “youth.” |
33 |
\U7B90 |
箐 |
to draw a bamboo bow or crossbow |
Ready to “ejaculate” or shoot. |
|
Unicode |
Character |
Definition |
Commentary |
Death/Heaven (14%) |
34 |
\U975D |
靝 |
(in taoism) the heaven |
Where men get all those virgins...the “essence” of spirit. |
35 |
\U8F24 |
輤 |
a pall to cover the hearse |
On the way to heaven. |
36 |
\U975C |
靜 |
quiet, still, motionless; gentle |
Refractory period. Or heaven. |
37 |
\U9759 |
静 |
quiet, still, motionless; gentle |
Refractory period. Or heaven. |
38 |
\U9756 |
靖 |
pacify; appease; calm |
Refractory period. |
39 |
\UFA1C |
pacify; appease; calm, peaceful |
Refractory period. |
|
Unicode |
Character |
Definition |
Commentary |
Chemical/Essence (9%) |
||||
40 |
\U8148 |
腈 |
an organic compound |
Essence of earth? |
41 |
\U6C30 |
氰 |
cyanogen; ethane dinitrile |
Blue essence of mineral? |
42 |
\U9306 |
錆 |
the color of a mineral |
Essence of mineral |
43 |
\U9516 |
锖 |
the color of the a mineral |
Essence of mineral |
|
Unicode |
Character |
Definition |
Commentary |
No Defenition |
||||
44 |
\U51CA |
凊 |
surname |
|
45 |
\U7883 |
碃 |
No definition given |
|
46 |
\U9757 |
靗 |
No definition given |
|
47 |
\U9755 |
靕 |
No definition given |
|
48 |
\U5D1D |
崝 |
No definition given |
|
49 |
\U8059 |
聙 |
No definition given |
|
50 |
\U57E5 |
埥 |
No definition given |
|
51 |
\U9754 |
靔 |
No definition given |
|
52 |
\U68C8 |
棈 |
No definition given |
|
53 |
\U7698 |
皘 |
No definition given |
|
54 |
\U5BC8 |
寈 |
No definition given |
|
55 |
\U9758 |
靘 |
No definition given |
|
56 |
\U90EC |
郬 |
No definition given |
|
57 |
\U9F31 |
鼱 |
No definition given |
|
58 |
\U2ED8 |
⻘ |
No definition given |
|
59 |
\U8533 |
蔳 |
No definition given |
|
60 |
\U7BDF |
篟 |
No definition given |
|
61 |
\U9756 |
靖 |
No definition given |
|
62 |
\U2C62C |
𬘬 |
No definition given |
|
63 |
\U5568 |
啨 |
No definition given |
|
64 |
\U2075C |
𠝜 |
No definition given |
|
65 |
\U220E2 |
𢃢 |
No definition given |
|
66 |
\U22251 |
𢉑 |
No definition given |
|
67 |
\U284FD |
𨓽 |
No definition given |
|
68 |
\U291D5 |
𩇕 |
No definition given |
|
69 |
\U2B578 |
𫕸 |
No definition given |
|
70 |
\U2CBAC |
𬮬 |
No definition given |
|
71 |
\U23B9B |
𣮛 |
No definition given |
|
72 |
\U249AD |
𤦭 |
No definition given |
|
73 |
\U291D6 |
𩇖 |
No definition given |
|
74 |
\U291D7 |
𩇗 |
No definition given |
|
75 |
\U24C9F |
𤲟 |
No definition given |
|
76 |
\U276AB |
𧚫 |
No definition given |
|
77 |
\U291D8 |
𩇘 |
No definition given |
|
78 |
\U291DB |
𩇛 |
No definition given |
|
79 |
\U2B579 |
𫕹 |
No definition given |
|
80 |
\U2B57A |
𫕺 |
No definition given |
|
81 |
\U2CC17 |
𬰗 |
No definition given |
|
82 |
\U2CC18 |
𬰘 |
No definition given |
|
83 |
\U2644A |
𦑊 |
No definition given |
|
84 |
\U26456 |
𦑖 |
No definition given |
|
85 |
\U291DC |
𩇜 |
No definition given |
|
86 |
\U2B3CF |
𫏏 |
No definition given |
|
87 |
\U28FEC |
𨿬 |
No definition given |
|
88 |
\U2970E |
𩜎 |
No definition given |
|
89 |
\U294E8 |
𩓨 |
No definition given |
|
90 |
\U295FC |
𩗼 |
No definition given |
|
91 |
\U291E0 |
𩇠 |
No definition given |
|
92 |
\U2B60B |
𫘋 |
No definition given |
|
93 |
\U2CE9A |
𬺚 |
No definition given |
|
94 |
\U2A0B4 |
𪂴 |
No definition given |
|
95 |
\U2B57C |
𫕼 |
No definition given |
|
96 |
\U291E2 |
𩇢 |
No definition given |
|
97 |
\U291E3 |
𩇣 |
No definition given |
|
98 |
\U2BE0E |
𫸎 |
No definition given |