象

Translingual

Etymology

This character represents an elephant (see [1] for images of older versions of this character)

elephant

Han character

Stroke order

象 (radical 152 豕+5, in Chinese 11 strokes, in Japanese 12 strokes, cangjie input 弓日心人 (NAPO), four-corner 2723₂)

1. elephant
2. ivory
3. figure, image (像)

References

• KangXi: page 1195, character 21
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 36372
• Dae Jaweon: page 1658, character 1
• Hanyu Da Zidian: volume 6, page 3611, character 9
• Unihan data for U+8C61

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Cantonese

Hanzi

象 (jyutping zoeng6, Yale jeung6)

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Japanese

Noun

象 (hiragana ぞう, romaji zō)

1. elephant

Noun

象 (hiragana きさ, romaji kisa)

1. elephant
   • 931-938: Wamyō Ruijushō (book 7 page 52)

     象 [...] 岐佐 [...] 獣名、似水牛、大耳、長鼻、眼細、牙長者也

   • 970-999: Utsubo Monogatari (Toshikage)

     それより西を行ケば、虎狼ひと山さワぐ所有り。キサ出デてその山をこしつ。

Kanji

象 (grade 4 “Kyōiku” kanji)

Readings

• On: しょう (shō), ぞう (zō)
• Kun: かた (kata), かたどる (katadoru), のり (nori)

Compounds

アジア象 (あじあぞう, ajiazō) Asian elephant アフリカ象 (あふりかぞう, afurikazō) African elephant インド象 (いんどぞう, indozō) Indian elephant 象嵌 (ぞうがん, zōgan) inlay 象眼 (ぞうがん, zōgan) inlay

象牙 (ぞうげ, zōge) ivory 象牙の塔 (ぞうげのとう, zōgenotou) ivory tower 象形 (しょうけい, shōkei) hieroglyphics 象徴 (しょうちょう, shōchou) symbol

References

• 1959 March 1 [c. 970-999], Kōno, Tama, Nihon Koten Bungaku Taikei 10: Utsubo Monogatari 1 (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Iwanami Shoten, ISBN 4-000-60010-9:
• 1968 February 29 [931-938], Minamoto, Shitagō; Kyōto Daigaku Bungakubu Kokugogaku Kokubungaku Kenkyūshitu, Shohon Shūsei Wamyō Ruijushō: Honbunhen (in Japanese), Kyōto: Rinsen, ISBN 4-653-00507-9:

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Korean

Hanja

象 (hangeul 상, revised sang, McCune-Reischauer sang, Yale sang)

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Mandarin

(Chinese Chess) elephant

Noun

象 (traditional and simplified, Pinyin xiàng)

1. elephant
2. (Chinese Chess) elephant

Synonyms

• (elephant in Chinese Chess): 相

Etymology 1

From Tai

Noun

象 (simplified, Pinyin xiàng, traditional 像)

1. likeness

Etymology 2

The passage from the elephant meaning to the likeness meaning is explained like this in the Han Feizi (around 221 BCE): Men rarely see living elephants. As they come by the skeleton of a dead elephant, they imagine its living form according to its features. Therefore it comes to pass that whatever people use for imagining the real is called 象.

Compounds

• 象鼻虫
• trad. 象齒焚身, simpl. 象齿焚身
• 象棋
• trad. 象聲詞, simpl. 象声词
• trad. 象戲, simpl. 象戏
• 象限
• 象形
• 象形文字
• 象牙
• trad. 象牙寶塔, simpl. 象牙宝塔
• 象牙之塔
• trad. 象牙質, simpl. 象牙质
• trad. 象眼兒, simpl. 象眼儿
• trad. 象徵, simpl. 象征
• trad. 象徵主義, simpl. 象征主义
• 象箸玉杯
• 大象 elephant
• 非洲象 African elephant
• 印度象 Indian elephant

References

• Peyraube, Alain. "Ancient Chinese." The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the World's Ancient Languages. Ed. Roger D. Woodard. Cambridge UP, 2004. 1012.
• Notes:

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Vietnamese

Han character

象 (tượng)