Characters
Most Chinese characters are written with a "phonetic" element that roughly indicates pronunciation with a "radical" or "signific" that suggests semantic field. Shen's standard 蜃 and antiquated 蜄 characters combine the chen 辰 "Dragon (zodiac), duodecimal 5th of the 12 Earthly Branches; period from 7-9 AM; time period; occasion; star; celestial body" phonetic with the chong 虫 "insect; reptile" radical.
A variety of other characters utilize this phonetic chen 辰 "5th; dragon", which the Wenlin says "may have depicted an ancient kind of hoe" in ancient oracle bone script (cf. nou 耨 "hoe; rake"). Some etymologically significant examples include:
- chen 晨 (with 日 "sun") "dragon star"
- zhen 震 (with 雨 "rain") "thunder; quake" (also a bagua trigram ☳ "The Arousing")
- zhen 振 (with 扌"hand") "shake; stimulate"
- zhen 娠 (with "woman") "pregnant"
- shen 脤 (with 肉 "meat") "sacrificial meat"
This chen 晨 or chenxing 辰星 "dragon star" is an asterism in the traditional Chinese constellations, a morning star within the Azure Dragon that is associated with east and spring. Specifically, the "dragon star" is in the 5th and 6th lunar Twenty-eight mansions, with its xin 心 "Heart" and wei 尾 "Tail" corresponding to the Western constellations of Antares and Scorpius.
Read more about this topic: Shen (clam-monster)
Famous quotes containing the word characters:
“For our vanity is such that we hold our own characters immutable, and we are slow to acknowledge that they have changed, even for the better.”
—E.M. (Edward Morgan)
“I cannot be much pleased without an appearance of truth; at least of possibility—I wish the history to be natural though the sentiments are refined; and the characters to be probable, though their behaviour is excelling.”
—Frances Burney (1752–1840)
“The first glance at History convinces us that the actions of men proceed from their needs, their passions, their characters and talents; and impresses us with the belief that such needs, passions and interests are the sole spring of actions.”
—Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770–1831)