Edubba A school of writing systems

Sinographs 101 · Chapter 08

Stopping at true

A footprint grows into a philosophy in three steps, and the evening names itself:

SignKeySaysMeansHow to see it
止stopzhǐ to stop, to stay a footprint — toes and heel — the foot at rest
正uprightzhèng upright, correct; exactly your foot stopped at your line 一: arriving exactly where one should
是thisshì this; to be right your sun over your upright: what stands squarely so
夕eveningxī evening, dusk your moon missing one stroke — the sliver that rises early
名namemíng name; to name evening plus mouth: in the dark no one can see you, so you say who you are

Read the chain aloud: the foot stops — 止. The foot stops at the line, exactly where it should — 正, upright. The sun stands over the upright foot — 是, what is squarely so: this. Three characters, each built on the last, ending in one of the commonest words in the language. And 名 is the chapter’s second compound story: evening 夕 beside mouth 口 — when the light is gone and your face is not enough, you say your name.

The chain: stop → upright → this 止 正 是 the foot stops stops at the line: upright the sun over it: this, so
A footprint, a line, the sun — and the script has built "correct" and "this" out of a foot. Every part of the chain was yours before the chain began.

The rectification of names

Asked what he would do first if given a government, the Master said: get the names right. The sentence that follows is the most famous statement of why in the tradition — and its first two clauses are nearly yours:

名不正，▢言不▢。míng bù zhèng, zé yán bù shùn"if names are not upright, speech does not flow" — 名 and 正 of this chapter, 言 of chapter 06; the boxed pair are "then" and "flow," and the argument marches on from there to ritual, punishment, and the people having nowhere to put hand or foot
Analects 13.3. urn:nabu:kanripo:KR1h0004:013:7a · license: attribution.

Knowing where to stop

止 is not just halting — it is knowing one’s resting place. The Great Learning builds its whole staircase on that:

知止而▢有▢。zhī zhǐ ér hòu yǒu dìng"know where to stop, and then there is steadiness" — 知 from chapter 06, 止 from today, the beard hinging them; the boxes are "then" and "steadiness"
The Great Learning (Daxue), in a Song commentary edition. urn:nabu:kanripo:KR1h0059:001:1b · license: attribution.

The saying with no boxes

Chapter 06 gave you a fragment and a promise. Here is the whole saying — eleven characters, and not one of them is a box:

知之為知之，不知為不知，是知也。zhī zhī wéi zhī zhī, bù zhī wéi bù zhī, shì zhī yě"when you know a thing, say you know it; when you do not, say you do not — THAT is real knowing." No pretending in either direction: knowledge begins with an honest map of your own ignorance. Every character taught, every character yours — the longest fully open reading in the course, sealed by today's 是 and closed by 也's bell
Analects 2.17 — the promise of chapter 06, kept in full. urn:nabu:kanripo:KR1h0004:002:18a · license: attribution.

Stop on that for a moment — the way 止 stops. Eight chapters ago you could not read a stroke. This is a whole saying of Confucius, word for word, in the original, and the only help you needed was the order in which you learned things.

Where this goes

Fifty characters. Next come the last little words — the ones that turn statements into questions and questions into the most famous opening sentence in East Asia.