CHARACTER HOME PAGE

mysterious; occultness; blackness; profound; "blackness" radical
Kanji 1227

Thank you for visiting this Character Home Page. Below you'll find a synopsis of the essay. If you wish to read the full text, the PDF of the essay is available for purchase to the right.

Synopsis

Find out about the shape that figures prominently in the name of a green tea and the word for "brown rice." It’s also the "blackness" radical. What a colorful character! Or should I say "What a mysterious character"? It primarily means "mysterious," and it unexpectedly lends that meaning to such common words as 玄関 (げんかん: entranceway). 

Revision history:

Sept. 28, 2023: p. 6: Added that of the four compounds listed at the end of the page, 白秋 is fairly well known as the pen name of a famous poet.

Feb. 3, 2023: p. 13: Revised the last paragraph of the second caption to clarify the relationship between the two leftmost columns in the sign.

Nov. 24, 2021: 

  • p. 9 sidebar: Replaced the Henshall etymology of 孫 with the new one.
  • p. 10 sidebar: Replaced the Henshall etymology of 幽 with the new one.
  • p. 11: Replaced the Henshall etymology of 率 with the new one. 

June 12, 2020: p. 8: Added that the "black" radical 黒 (radical 203) is read as くろ or くろへん.

Jan. 21, 2020:

  • p. 2: Etymology Box: Replaced the old Henshall etymology with the new one.
  • p. 11: Added a link to the Kanshudo games.

Feb. 8, 2018: 

  • pp. 2, 10, and 13: Fixed broken links.
  • p. 12: Revised the photo caption for clarity.

June 22, 2013: pp. 6 and 8: Changed "india ink" to "black ink" several times. On p. 8 I also revised Sidebar 6 a bit, mainly to reflect that 黒 is an off-duty radical in 墨.

Sept. 14, 2012: Added 2 photos on page 13.

Comments

Add comment

Log in or register to post comments
Kanji PDF
Mini Profile
JOYO ON-YOMI
ゲン
JOYO KUN-YOMI
None
STROKES5
RADICAL玄 (95: blackness)
JLPTN1
HALPERN1256/1722
HENSHALL1227/1297
SPAHN2j3.2