禹

禹 U+79B9, 禹 CJK UNIFIED IDEOGRAPH-79B9 ← 禸 [U+79B8] CJK Unified Ideographs 禺 → [U+79BA]

See also: 䖝

Translingual

Han character

禹 (Kangxi radical 114, 禸+4, 9 strokes, Cangjie input 竹中月戈 (HLBI), four-corner 2042₇, composition ⿻⿱丿口禸)

1. Yu the Great, legendary founder of the Xia Dynasty

Derived characters

• 偊, 㙖, 渪, 楀, 瑀, 䄔, 竬, 聥, 蝺, 踽, 齲(𮯌/龋), 鄅, 㙑, 㝢, 萭, 䨞, 属

Additional Derived Characters

• 𡟥, 𡥶, 𢯺, 𨺲, 𨕘, 𣈭, 𪹋, 𤘐, 𦞇, 𥈋, 𮵖, 𰨰, 𲀹, 𦔊, 𫒳, 𩘉, 𪑴
• 𥝀, 𬆪, 𩀌, 𩔔, 𰨚, 𱷇, 𥯔, 𥝊, 𢉠, 𫭎
• 𱮠, 𬍿, 𰍞

References

• Kangxi Dictionary: page 848, character 2
• Dai Kanwa Jiten: character 24885
• Dae Jaweon: page 1269, character 23
• Hanyu Da Zidian (first edition): volume 1, page 39, character 11
• Unihan data for U+79B9

Chinese

trad.		禹
simp. #		禹
alternative forms		𰁻

Glyph origin

Historical forms of the character 禹
Shang	Western Zhou	Spring and Autumn	Warring States		Shuowen Jiezi (compiled in Han)	Liushutong (compiled in Ming)
Bronze inscriptions	Bronze inscriptions	Bronze inscriptions	Chu slip and silk script	Qin slip script	Small seal script	Transcribed ancient scripts

Characters in the same phonetic series (禹) (Zhengzhang, 2003) 

	Old Chinese
踽	*kʷaʔ, *kʰʷaʔ
萭	*kʷaʔ, *ɢʷaʔ
聥	*kʷaʔ, *ɢʷaʔ
楀	*kʷaʔ, *ɢʷaʔ
齲	*kʰʷaʔ
禹	*ɢʷaʔ
瑀	*ɢʷaʔ
鄅	*ɢʷaʔ

The Shuowen interprets the character as pictographic (象形) of an animal. The bronze-script character clearly shows the 虫 component.

Etymology

insect

Compare Proto-Tibeto-Burman *was (“honey, bee”) (Benedict, 1972) or semantically closer Proto-Waic *wak "insect" (Schuessler, 2007), the latter from Proto-Palaungic *ʋaːk (“insect, worm”) (Sidwell, 2015).

Yu the Great

The character is attested in bronze inscriptions from the late Shang dynasty (𫤵禹祖辛罍, 𫤵禹祖辛卣).

The earliest known reference to the legendary Yu in excavated texts is found in the 豳公盨 inscription from the mid-Western Zhou:

天命禹敷土，墮山濬川；乃仇方設正，降民監德； [Pre-Classical Chinese, trad.]

---

天命禹敷土，堕山濬川；乃仇方设正，降民监德； [Pre-Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: Mid-Western Zhou (later phase), 豳公盨 inscription

tiān mìng Yǔ fū tǔ, duò shān jùn chuān; nǎi chóu fāng shè zhèng, jiàng mín jiān dé; [Pinyin]

Heaven commanded Yu to spread out the land: he broke down the mountains and dredged the rivers, and thereupon established leaders for the various domains. [Heaven] sent down the people and kept watch over their virtue;

More information

In the 禹盤 (mid-Western Zhou), 禹 appears as the name of a contemporaneous individual:

禹拜稽首，對揚王休。禹作文考父癸寶䵼彝，其永寶。 [Pre-Classical Chinese, trad.]

---

禹拜稽首，对扬王休。禹作文考父癸宝䵼彝，其永宝。 [Pre-Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: Mid-Western Zhou, 禹盤 inscription

Yǔ bài jīshǒu, duì yáng wáng xiū. Yǔ zuò wénkǎo FùGuǐ bǎo pán yí, qí yǒng bǎo. [Pinyin]

Yu bowed and prostrated, in response extolling the king's beneficence. Yu made this precious pan vessel for his late father Gui; may it be treasured forever.

In the late Western Zhou, the well-known 禹鼎 inscription (King Yi period) records the deeds of a military official named 禹 who led an expedition against the Marquis of È (鄂侯馭方):

禹曰：「丕顯桓桓皇祖穆公克夾詔先王奠四方，肆武公亦弗遐忘朕聖祖考幽大叔、懿叔，命禹纘朕祖考，政于井邦。肆禹亦弗敢憃，惕共朕辟之命。」 [Pre-Classical Chinese, trad.]

---

禹曰：「丕显桓桓皇祖穆公克夹诏先王奠四方，肆武公亦弗遐忘朕圣祖考幽大叔、懿叔，命禹缵朕祖考，政于井邦。肆禹亦弗敢憃，惕共朕辟之命。」 [Pre-Classical Chinese, simp.]

From: Late Western Zhou (King Yi period), 禹鼎 inscription

Yǔ yuē: “Pī xiǎn huánhuán huángzǔ Mùgōng kè jiā zhào xiānwáng diàn sìfāng, sì Wǔgōng yì fú xiá wàng zhèn shèng zǔkǎo Yōudàshū, Yìshū, mìng Yǔ zuǎn zhèn zǔkǎo, zhèng yú Jǐng bāng. Sì Yǔ yì fú gǎn chōng, tì gōng zhèn pì zhī mìng.” [Pinyin]

Yu said: "My greatly illustrious and martial august ancestor, Duke Mu, was able to assist the former kings in settling the four quarters. Thus Duke Wu also did not dare forget my sagely forefathers, the Great Uncle You and Uncle Yi, and commanded Yu to carry on [the work of] my ancestors, governing the state of Jing. Thus Yu did not dare act willfully, but reverently upheld the commands of my lord."

The 叔向父禹簋 (King Li period) records an individual of the same lineage (also referencing the ancestor 幽大叔).

Pronunciation

• Mandarin

  (Pinyin): yǔ (yu³)

  (Zhuyin): ㄩˇ

• Cantonese (Jyutping): jyu⁵
• Hakka

  (Sixian, PFS): yí / yì

  (Hailu, HRS): rhi^ˊ

• Eastern Min (BUC): ṳ̄
• Puxian Min (Pouseng Ping'ing): y³
• Southern Min

  (Hokkien, POJ): ú / í

  (Teochew, Peng'im): u²

---

• Mandarin
  • (Standard Chinese)⁺
    • Hanyu Pinyin: yǔ
    • Zhuyin: ㄩˇ
    • Tongyong Pinyin: yǔ
    • Wade–Giles: yü³
    • Yale: yǔ
    • Gwoyeu Romatzyh: yeu
    • Palladius: юй (juj)
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /y²¹⁴/
• Cantonese
  • (Standard Cantonese, Guangzhou–Hong Kong)
    • Jyutping: jyu⁵
    • Yale: yúh
    • Cantonese Pinyin: jy⁵
    • Guangdong Romanization: yu⁵
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /jyː¹³/
• Hakka
  • (Northern Sixian, incl. Miaoli)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: yí / yì
    • Hakka Romanization System: i^ˋ / i^ˇ
    • Hagfa Pinyim: yi³ / yi²
    • Sinological IPA: /i³¹/, /i¹¹/
  • (Southern Sixian, incl. Neipu)
    • Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: yí / yì
    • Hakka Romanization System: (r)i^ˋ / (r)i^ˇ
    • Hagfa Pinyim: yi³ / yi²
    • Sinological IPA: /(j)i³¹/, /(j)i¹¹/
  • (Hailu, incl. Zhudong)
    • Hakka Romanization System: rhi^ˊ
    • Sinological IPA: /ʒi²⁴/
• Eastern Min
  • (Fuzhou)
    • Bàng-uâ-cê: ṳ̄
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /y³³/
• Puxian Min
  • (Putian)
    • Pouseng Ping'ing: y³
    • Báⁿ-uā-ci̍: ṳ̂
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /y⁴⁵³/
  • (Xianyou)
    • Pouseng Ping'ing: y³
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /y³³²/
• Southern Min
  • (Hokkien: Xiamen, Quanzhou, General Taiwanese)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: ú
    • Tâi-lô: ú
    • Phofsit Daibuun: uo
    • Sinological IPA (Quanzhou): /u⁵⁵⁴/
    • Sinological IPA (Kaohsiung): /u⁴¹/
    • Sinological IPA (Xiamen, Taipei): /u⁵³/
  • (Hokkien: Zhangzhou, Changtai)
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī: í
    • Tâi-lô: í
    • Phofsit Daibuun: ie
    • Sinological IPA (Zhangzhou, Changtai): /i⁵³/
  • (Teochew)
    • Peng'im: u²
    • Pe̍h-ōe-jī-like: ú
    • Sinological IPA ^(key): /u⁵²/

---

• Middle Chinese: hjuX

Rime
Character	禹
Reading #	1/1
Initial (聲)	云 (35)
Final (韻)	虞 (24)
Tone (調)	Rising (X)
Openness (開合)	Closed
Division (等)	III
Fanqie	王矩切
Baxter	hjuX
Reconstructions
Zhengzhang Shangfang	/ɦɨoX/
Pan Wuyun	/ɦioX/
Shao Rongfen	/ɣioX/
Edwin Pulleyblank	/ɦuə̆X/
Li Rong	/ɣioX/
Wang Li	/ɣĭuX/
Bernhard Karlgren	/i̯uX/
Expected Mandarin Reflex	yǔ
Expected Cantonese Reflex	jyu5

• Old Chinese

  (Baxter–Sagart): /*[ɢ]ʷ(r)aʔ/

  (Zhengzhang): /*ɢʷaʔ/

Baxter–Sagart system 1.1 (2014)
Character	禹
Reading #	1/1
Modern Beijing (Pinyin)	yǔ
Middle Chinese	‹ hjuX ›
Old Chinese	/*[ɢ]ʷ(r)aʔ/
English	insect; proper name
Notes for Old Chinese notations in the Baxter–Sagart system: * Parentheses "()" indicate uncertain presence; * Square brackets "[]" indicate uncertain identity, e.g. *[t] as coda may in fact be *-t or *-p; * Angle brackets "<>" indicate infix; * Hyphen "-" indicates morpheme boundary; * Period "." indicates syllable boundary.

Zhengzhang system (2003)
Character	禹
Reading #	1/1
No.	15960
Phonetic component	禹
Rime group	魚
Rime subdivision	0
Corresponding MC rime	羽
Old Chinese	/*ɢʷaʔ/

Definitions

禹

1. (Chinese mythology) Yu the Great (the legendary king associated with a flood myth and the foundation of the Xia dynasty)
2. (historical dictionaries only) insect

   禹：蟲也。从厹，象形。 [Classical Chinese, trad.]
   禹：虫也。从厹，象形。 [Classical Chinese, simp.]

   From: Shuowen Jiezi, circa 2^nd century CE

   Yǔ: chóng yě. Cóng Róu, xiàngxíng. [Pinyin]

   Yu is a pictograph of an insect.

Compounds

• 伯禹
• 夏禹
• 大禹 (Dà Yǔ)
• 大禹嶺 / 大禹岭
• 大禹治水 (Dàyǔ zhìshuǐ)
• 王禹偁
• 禹州 (Yǔzhōu, “Yuzhou”)
• 禹步
• 禹王 (Yǔwáng)
• 禹王臺 / 禹王台
• 禹甸
• 禹穴
• 禹行舜趨 / 禹行舜趋
• 禹貢 / 禹贡 (Yǔ Gòng)
• 禹跡 / 禹迹
• 禹餘糧 / 禹余粮
• 貢禹 / 贡禹
• 貢禹彈冠 / 贡禹弹冠

References

• “禹”, in 漢語多功能字庫 (Multi-function Chinese Character Database)‎^[1], 香港中文大學 (the Chinese University of Hong Kong), 2014–
• Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants (教育部異體字字典), A02908
• “禹”, in 重編國語辭典修訂本 [Revised Mandarin Chinese Dictionary] (in Chinese), National Academy for Educational Research (Taiwan), 2021.

Hokkien

• “禹”, in 教育部臺灣台語常用詞辭典 [Dictionary of Frequently-Used Taiwanese Taigi] (overall work in Mandarin and Hokkien), Ministry of Education, R.O.C., 2026.
• 周长楫 [Zhōu Chángjí], editor (2006), “禹”, in 闽南方言大词典 MINNAN FANGYAN DA CIDIAN [Dictionary of Southern Min topolects] (overall work in Hokkien and Mandarin), Fuzhou: 福建人民出版社 [Fujian People's Publishing House], →ISBN, page 1194.

Japanese

Kanji

禹

(Hyōgai kanji)

1. Name of a Xia Dynasty emperor in ancient China: Emperor Yŭ, Yŭ the Great, or Dà Yŭ.

Readings

• Go-on: う (u)
• Kan-on: う (u)
• Nanori: のぶ (nobu)

Compounds

• 禹域(ういき) (uiki)
• 禹穴(うけつ) (uketsu)
• 禹行舜趨(うこうしゅんすう) (ukōshunsū)
• 禹貢(うこう) (ukō)
• 禹歩(うほ) (uho)
• 禹余糧(うよりょう) (uyoryō)

Etymology

Kanji in this term
禹
う Hyōgai
on'yomi

From Middle Chinese 禹 (MC hjuX).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ɯ̟]

Proper noun

禹(う) • (U) 

1. Yu the Great, legendary founder of the Xia Dynasty in ancient China

Further reading

• 禹 on the Japanese Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^ja
• Yu the Great on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Xia Dynasty on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Korean

Hanja

禹 • (u) (hangeul 우, revised u, McCune–Reischauer u, Yale wu)

1. (성씨) a surname
2. (大禹) Yu the Great
3. (임금) king
4. (벌레) worm
5. (곡척) steel square

Usage notes

ko:w: 우 (하나라) #우의 치수사업

• 禹라는 문자는 본래 도마뱀이나 악어, 용의 모습을 그린 상형문자로, 우의 기원은 황하에 살던 물의 신이라고 보기도 한다.^{[출처 필요]}

우 임금 禹(우)

김경일, 한자교실, 바다출판사, 1999.

• 더듬이와 꼬리가 긴 곤충 종류의 상형문. 아마도 토템 대상인 듯하다. 역사가 긴 부족.

Vietnamese

Han character

禹: Hán Nôm readings: vũ

• 夏禹 Hạ Vũ

1. This term needs a translation to English. Please help out and add a translation, then remove the text {{rfdef}}.

References

• Thiều Chửu : Hán Việt Tự Điển Hà Nội 1942
• Trần Văn Chánh: Từ Điển Hán Việt NXB Trẻ, Ho Chi Minh Ville, 1999