Remembering The Kanji - Lesson 08

Front 1

stream (flood)

Back 1

川

Hint 1

things fall down fall in straight lines or ripple along in lines

Front 2

state

Back 2

州

Hint 2

drops of land rising out of a stream...wonder how state lines are drawn between rivers...

Front 3

obey

Back 3

順

Hint 3

stream....head....
either one obeys the person who is the head of the company or else obeys by following the stream of opinion("current practice")

Front 4

water

Back 4

水

Hint 4

looks like a snowflake..walking stick dropped into water sending drop out in 4 directions

Front 5

icicle

Back 5

氷

Hint 5

holding icicle up to light and crystallization of five pointed stars looks like the kanji

Front 6

eternity

Back 6

永

Hint 6

seeing "eternity in a drop of water"

Front 7

spring

Back 7

泉

Hint 7

bubbling spring of white water..white at top...water at bottom....

Front 8

meadow

Back 8

原

Hint 8

mountain meadow in Alps... ...opening scene of Sound of Music..springs bubbling up across the meadow to form a path that leads to a cliff

Front 9

petition

Back 9

願

Hint 9

Wizard of Oz head in the middle of a flowery meadow....scarecrow, lion, and tin man petitioning Oz....

Front 10

swim

Back 10

泳

Hint 10

water...eternity...
eternal bliss while swimming in an endless expanse of water without a care in the world

Front 11

marsh

Back 11

沼

Hint 11

land becomes marshy because it seduces the water over to its side

Front 12

open sea

Back 12

沖

Hint 12

in the middle of a great body of water

Front 13

creek

Back 13

江

Hint 13

water....craft....
made by finding a mainstream of water somewhere and digging a path into dry land...

Front 14

soup

Back 14

汁

Hint 14

ten ingredients boiling in water

Front 15

tide

Back 15

潮

Hint 15

water...morning...
morning tide

Front 16

source

Back 16

源

Hint 16

water....meadow...
water under a meadow..with a spring breaking through the surface

Front 17

lively

Back 17

活

Hint 17

tongues babbling and splashing around like flowing water

Front 18

extinguish

Back 18

消

Hint 18

drops of water dropped onto sparks

Front 19

but of course

Back 19

況

Hint 19

mothering grilling teenager going on 1st date...did you shower?...but of course

Front 20

river

Back 20

河

Hint 20

little engine that could chugging down mississippi as a river boat

Front 21

overnight

Back 21

泊

Hint 21

need to sleep at inn...expect bit of water in order to wash up..and also needs clean white sheets to rest in

Front 22

lake

Back 22

湖

Hint 22

water..old..flesh...
legend..people set adrify in stormy lake because their flesh got too old to bear the burden of life

Front 23

fathom

Back 23

測

Hint 23

fathoming a body of water several hundred feet deep by using a gigantic ruler

Front 24

soil (ground, dirt, land)

Back 24

土

Hint 24

mound of soil piled on ground

Front 25

spit

Back 25

吐

Hint 25

mouth full of dirt....spit it out as fast as you can

Front 26

pressure

Back 26

圧

Hint 26

steep cliff with no trees...slightest pressure will cause a landslide

Front 27

cape

Back 27

埼

Hint 27

soil which represents land...unusual things go on...haunted house...eerie sky overhead... ...howling wind..cape odd

Front 28

hedge

Back 28

垣

Hint 28

miraculous hedge of roses completely spanning the castle grounds...no wonder it took forever to find Sleeping Beauty

Front 29

square jewel (ivy)

Back 29

圭

Hint 29

mammoth precious stone, several feet high, made by piliing up large heaps of soil on top of one another (ivy that covers the ground to form a sort of "second" ground that can be tricky to walk on without tripping

Front 30

seal

Back 30

封

Hint 30

to seal letters....instead of using traditional wax seal, you glue a sprig of ivy on the outside...

Front 31

horizon

Back 31

涯

Hint 31

after seeing a constant horizon of water everywhere while at sea, could there be anything more delighting than looking and seeing ivy-clad cliffs on a new horizon

Front 32

buddhist temple

Back 32

寺

Hint 32

newcomer wants to attach himself to temple...picks a patch of unoccupied land and glues himself to the place

Front 33

time

Back 33

時

Hint 33

sun rising over Buddhist temples..monk meditating pondering of the question of "what is time"

Front 34

level (i.e. a level surface)

Back 34

均

Hint 34

soil being scooped into a ladle and then made level(presumable because you're measuring soil)

Front 35

fireplace or raging conflagration (flames, cauldron, cooking fire, oven fire)

Back 35

火

Hint 35

volcano eruptions

Front 36

inflammation

Back 36

炎

Hint 36

fire belongs in a hearth, not over it...when it spreads to rest of the house, the house is inflamed, with any inflammation, the danger is that it might spread if not checked

Front 37

anxiety

Back 37

煩

Hint 37

head is set on fire(resulting in a throbbing headache)

Front 38

thin

Back 38

淡

Hint 38

inflammation in the medical sense...first water related inflammation that pops into mind is dehydration....or think of it as a thin person inflammed with dehydration

Front 39

lamp

Back 39

灯

Hint 39

nail down just a bit of fire to light up the text of the evening newspaper.....a lamp....

Front 40

farm

Back 40

畑

Hint 40

fireplace(hearth)...field...warm hearth to sit by at night and well-plowed field to grow crops in by day

Front 41

disaster

Back 41

災

Hint 41

floods...fires...a great flood pouring down on a great forest fire

Front 42

ashes

Back 42

灰

Hint 42

fire(fireplace)...what do you do with bucket of ashes from fireplace?...naturally you walk to the edge of a cliff and dump the ashes

Front 43

spot

Back 43

点

Hint 43

if you look into a fire for a long time and then turn aside, you will see spots before your eyes...an old witch sits before her cauldron and watches the spots that show up when she turns to look at you, and from that tells you your fortune

Front 44

illuminate (i.e. to make something shine)

Back 44

照

Hint 44

shining...oven's fire....if you glaze a pot and put it into the oven to fire it, you in fact illuminate it

Front 45

fish

Back 45

魚

Hint 45

bound up...rice field...cooking fire.....first a fish is caught and bound up on a line with its friends, when the fisherman gets home he cuts of the head and tosses it, with entrails out into rice fields for fertilizer, and the rest of the fish he sets in a skillet over a cooking fire fore his supper

Front 46

fishing

Back 46

漁

Hint 46

water, where the fish were happily at home before being caught, disemboweled, and eaten