mouth, and is the name of a dynasty which lasted from B.C. 1766—1122.
Yu see line 14.
T'ang is composed of 水 shui water as radical, with a common phonetic (lines 16, 126), and originally meant hot water. It here stands for the first Emperor of the Shang dynasty, who reigned B.C. 1766—1753 and is popularly known as 成湯 ch'êng tang T'ang the Completer (line 26).
| 189. | 周 | 文 | 武 | the Chou dynasty had Wen and Wu;— | |
| Chou1 | wên2 | wu3 | |||
| Chou | wên | wu |
Chou see line 141.
Wên see line 44.
Wu is composed of 止 chih to stop, as radical, and 戈 ko spear, weapons; stoppage of hostilities being the ultimate object of war. This etymology is dated back in the Tso Chuan (line 165) to B.C. 595.
| 190. | 稱 | 三 | 王 | these are called the Three Kings. | |
| Ch'êng1 | san1 | wang2 | |||
| Entitle | three | king |
Ch'êng see line 186.
San see title.
Wang is composed of three horizontals which stand for heaven, earth, and man in the middle, the line for man being nearer to heaven than to earth, in token of his divine obligations. These are united by a vertical line which typifies the influence of the sovereign. The character was originally a radical, but is now classed under 玉 yü jade. Read wang4 = to rule. [The two in line 189, King Wên and King Wu, who were father and son, count only as one. For although King Wu was the first
